The Sheriff's Daughter
by Lily6005
Summary: Belle, Vaisey's daughter was beautiful and smart, and far too brave for her own good. She becomes a fellow marauder along with Marian and Robin's band. Her fate was already decided though. She would be given to her father's deputy whenever he chose. A fate that she was smart enough to use to her advantage; she knew he wanted her, and she knew how to get what she wanted from him.
1. Chapter 1

No one would dare touch Belle. She was protected beyond measure by anyone her father could order around. She always had a chaperone unless she suck out from under their eye, and since they would be killed if her father found out, he would never be told. She was smart enough to remind them that whenever they caught up to her, or when she found them after she had her fun.

She wasn't cruel, she just was in her rebellious teenage years. Sixteen and beautiful with long blonde that went to her waist, and was where her pride was born. She was strong too, her father had made sure she was able to protect herself from outlaws. She was trained in archery, hand-to-hand, throwing knives and sword fighting, all of which she loved. She could even take down her father's accomplices, all of which learned when she was thirteen she was not to be messed with.

Her father was the Sheriff of Nottingham, she wasn't ignorant to his power-hungry nature, she knew all about it. She wasn't as cruel as he, she did what was in her power to give poor people food, and coins she could spare without her father noticing.

She was the apple of his eye, adored her, and made sure she had whatever she wanted, he would say the cruel things he did were for her, for her so she would be taken care of, she told him she didn't want to be associated with it.

She hated that wherever she went, she was treated with fear, she was nothing to be feared, she wanted to help people, so a week after her sixteenth birthday, she got clothes that fitted her in a way that made her look more like a man, hard for her since she had a very womanly figure, they were black, so she could sneak around in the shadows.

She got this idea from her friend, Marian, who she found out to be the Nightwatchman nearly two months ago after she helped her escape from the hands of Guy of Gisborne, who she was stealing from. She scolded her for going in with no backup, Belle scolded her, telling her that if Robin Hood didn't show up Belle couldn't have helped her.

But now, she was in danger, she could be killed easily, but she couldn't find herself minding, she craved danger in her otherwise boring life. This was it, and it was also helping the poor. Two birds, one stone.

"Will you take me out?" She had asked Marian the day before.

"If you can meet me in the forest, I'll see you at sunset." Marian told her. "Don't get caught. This is your test to see if you can keep up."

"I'll use you as my alibi, Guy will let me out if I say I'm going straight to your house." Belle told her. "I'll say that I'm spending the night. My father won't notice."

"I'm your excuse, what if he comes knocking while we're out?" Marian asked.

"He won't show until dawn at the earliest." Belle told her. "We'll be fine."

"All right, we'll do it." Marian had told her.

"Us Sheriff's daughter's have to stick together." Belle agreed. "Though mine is a bastard, he's still the sheriff and my father. Funny how that is."

"If it wasn't for you I would have a lot worse done than my hair being cut off." Marian had said. "It's easy to say you have not followed in his footsteps."

Belle remembered that, and it gave her hope, maybe she wasn't as evil as he father or aunt. But she still loved her father, there was nothing she could do about it, she just did. He treated her like a princess, buying her gowns and letting her ride whenever she wanted, though he would not let any man court her to this date, she knew it would have to be coming soon; she was getting old. Sixteen was far older than many who have been married. She dreaded her father's choice, he would surely be like the Sheriff.

"Guy," Belle smiled, leaning against a cold stone wall, her hands behind her on the small of her back as she saw him approaching.

"What do you want Belle?" The dark man asked, raising a black eyebrow.

"I was just on my way to Marian's, and I thought I should at least tell someone." Belle told him, a teasing edge in her voice. He liked her like that. Teasing and playful, and not looking at him like he was a monster. She was innocent in his eyes, completely innocent. "So you know I'm not kidnapped or anything."

"Should I send someone to take you?" He asked, stepping close to her so if he reached out his arms he could pin her to the wall if he wanted. Belle may be strong, but the much larger man could easily overpower her.

"No, I'll ride." Belle told him. "You know nothing will happen to me. I always have my knives."

"I would still like to take you." He stated, his eyes softening a little bit.

Belle smiled. "You said you were going to send one of the goons."

"I changed my mind."

"Really?" Belle said, advancing on him so they were nose to nose, or well, nose to chest, but he was peering down at her. "And I can't imagine why."

"Should I call someone to saddle the horses?"

"What do I have to do to go by my self? Distract you long enough for me to knock you out?" She said this in a light teasing voice, as she made sure there was at least a little space between their faces. "I can be very distracting."

"I can think of a few things." He tried to kiss her, but she turned her head so he hit her jaw, though he kissed his way to her ear.

"Uh-uh, Father will _kill_ you." She told him. "I'm his little girl after all."

"Do you want me to take you there?" He whispered in her ear.

She smiled, and turned her head to kiss him. Mostly it was for show, he may be cruel to others, but he was nice to her, since she became beautiful at least. Before that he treated her like a child. She didn't forget, but she did know how to get what she wanted. He was beautiful, though. She remembered thinking that when she first saw him, though the admiring turned to annoyance when he opened his mouth. He was all black hair and blue eyes. It didn't help that his fashion only knew a monotone of black. It made him look mysterious. It made him look evil. It made him look like someone needed to best him.

"Can I go? Father won't notice." Belle whispered, after she kissed him softly.

"I will be there in the morning to collect you." He told her, standing up straight.

"You make me sound like a possession." She objected, backing away from him. "Goodbye."

"Belle, wait." He called after her.

She turned around, though she still backed away. "No waiting. You'll get your reward for collecting me in the morning." She winked at him. "Goodbye, Guy."

She quickly made it to the forest where Marian told her to go, her saddlebags full of another dress and her dark clothes to change into for their late night activities, along with things she would need to spend the night at Marian's house, since they would probably get in early in the morning to give Belle enough time to change, and maybe sleep for a while before Guy came to get them.

Belle loved the forest. It was beautiful and, as her father said, full of outlaws. She didn't care, she knew if they knew who she is, they would use her as leverage against him, but with a dagger in her boot, and a bow and quiver of arrows on her back, she doubted it, until she heard a voice.

"Well well well, what have we here?" A male voice asked, from somewhere in the trees.

Belle turned her head, going to her ankle for a knife, as she searched the trees for where the voice came from.

"Don't even think about it." It said, as her eyes found the short man, a bow already trained on her.

She sighed, raising her hands above her head. "Hello, Robin Hood."

"You know the drill, Little Sheriff." He said as his gang came out of the trees five of them besides Robin Hood. A small troupe.

"I have no money on me, nor jewelry." She told them, not sounding bothered by them. She was lying, though she did have some money on her. "I am on my way to visit Marian, would you like me to send a greeting for you?"

"Robin, leave Belle alone. She doesn't have anything you need." Marian said, as she brought her horse between the arrow and Belle to stand between them. "Where are your clothes?"

"I couldn't get out of the castle without being seen, Marian." Belle whispered to her. "I have to get changed."

"Get off your horse." Marian replied as she got off her horse.

"Marian." Robin groaned. "What are you doing?"

"I believe I'm helping a friend." Marian told him, holding up Belle's cloak to cover her as she changed. "Now, would you please leave?"

"She's the Sheriff's daughter!" Alan said. "She's probably got loads of money on her."

"Shut it," Belle told them, as she looked over her horse's saddle at him. "I'm nothing like him." She said, shimmying out of her dress. She already had tight black trousers on underneath her dress. Easier for her to change. She pulled on her black leather top with silver clasps down the center of her torso before putting on a velvet cape.

"Ooh, baby girl's got a temper." Alan said.

Belle took out a blade and threw it at the tree next to his head.

"I suggest your mouth stays shut." Marian advised. "She gets scary when she's upset, and you're upsetting her, Alan."

"I'm sure little miss privileged is never criticized." Alan replied. "She almost killed me!"

"I don't miss, if I wanted to kill you, you would be dead." Belle told him, taking her cloak from Marian and putting it back on. "Marian, can we go now?"

"Marian, can I talk to you for a moment?" Robin asked.

Marian looked between them. "Five minutes," she told Robin, before flashing Belle an apologetic smile.

"Hurry." Belle told her, frowning.

"I will," she said. "Alan, would you watch my horse?" She said as she passed him.

Belle stuffed her dress in her saddlebag, before getting back on her horse, holding her mask in a belt at her waist.

Alan was watching her as she straightened her reins.

"You're drooling." Belle snapped, not even looking up.

"Are you sure the Sheriff's your father?"

"Positive."

"Then you should thank God that you look like your mother." He told her.

She had to fight the urge to kick out and hit his jaw with her boot, but it was so tempting, before flashing him a smile. "Are you calling me beautiful?"

"No-"

"I think you are, don't even try, you're already on my father's to kill list." Belle told him, enjoying the red tinge on the outlaw's cheeks. "Though that would make it all the more fun..." She bent back so she could lay down, the saddle biting into her back. In her clothes, if she were standing she would look like a man, but how she was laying now, her curves were more pronounced and she knew that Alan was at least taking note of it, since the others were still shadows in the trees and not in the clearing.

"You're conceited, you know that?"

"Yes, I am, thank you for noticing." Belle told him.

"It's not a complement."

"Really? Because you make it sound like one."

"I'm sure you get enough complements."

"So you do think I'm beautiful!"

"I never said that."

"It was implied."

"Stop your bickering, you sound like an old married couple." Said a large man from the shadows.

Belle scoffed. "I'm just a girl, I don't know better."

"You're old enough to get married." Alan muttered.

"Oh, just notice that did you?" Belle teased. "I'm afraid you're rather thick, it took others mere seconds."

"Actually I noticed when you were getting changed." He told her, before his shoulder getting hit by the heel of her boot. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Sure you didn't." Belle said, sarcasm leaking into her voice as her horse took a few steps forward. "How long do their little trysts usually take?" She asked the tall man.

"You know?" Asked another short man, a trip of cloth tied on his head.

"Of course I know. It doesn't take much to figure out with them." Belle said. "You didn't answer my question."

"And I'm sure everyone answers your questions." Alan muttered.

"Most of the time." She said. "But we have to go, we have things to do."

"What kind of things?" Much asked.

"I'm sure Marian's gonna tell Robin Hood all about it." Belle said.

"So you're the one that Gisborne's after?" said a Saracen woman, coming out of the shadows.

"How do you think you found out about the money coming on the North Road?" Belle asked them. "He'll tell me anything I want as long as I can play my part."

That made them pause, but how else could they think Marian was getting the information? She had no connections inside the castle, but the Sheriff's daughter who was being sheltered from everything her father had done, or is doing. Or they thought they were. Belle was their eyes and ears in the castle, and they never even knew it.

"Oh, a new bit of information?" She mocked, taking a small bag of gold out of her bag, and throwing it at the Saracen woman. "That is my spending money for the next week. Tell me again how I'm evil like my father, that I'm going to sell Marian out so my father could kill her. Just. Tell. Me." She dared them.

"Her, I like." The tall man with a staff said, nodding her way.

Belle smiled, a real smile, with her eyes lighting up and her cheeks becoming more prominent. The smile she rarely showed. It made her look her age. It made her look happy.

"So what are your plans then?" The Saracen woman asked.

"Djaq, she's not gonna tell ya." Alan said, as if it were obvious.

Belle cleared her throat, and motioned for Djaq to come forward, which she did until Will-she recognized him from when she would leave money around Locksley when she was fourteen-stopped her.

"She's not going to hurt me." Djaq said confidently. Like she already knew what Belle was capable of.

Belle rolled her eyes, and raised her hands over her head. "They'll stay above my head, Will, okay? Don't get your knickers in a twist."

Djaq came towards her, and Belle leaned down. "We're gonna steal for Guy, I know where he keeps his wealth."

"He moved it since last spring." Djaq whispered back.

"You don't think he showed the girl he's lusting after?" Belle replied, raising her eyebrows. "If he wants to bed me, he's going to have to marry me. To do that, he has to get me to agree. Apparently all a woman wants nowadays is gold in her hand and around her neck." She said before sitting up, her finger tracing the skin of her throat.

Djaq raised her eyebrow. "Good luck." She looked over Belle. "It explains the clothes."

Belle laughed, sitting up straight on her saddle again. "I had them made for me, one piece from a different tailor in town, and I made the mask myself."

"All black?"

"It matches my father's soul." Belle said darkly as she rolled her eyes.

Djaq laughed. "So he doesn't try to hide it from you?"

"Oh, he does, I didn't know until I was about twelve years of age." Belle told her. "Right after my father became Sheriff, I saw a man get stabbed for stealing a loaf of bread, my father thought I was unpacking in the castle, but I decided to go for a walk instead." Belle's eyes glazed over, and her face became unreadable, in a trancelike state. "I was walking through the market, and a poor man was begging for food, I was twelve you must understand, and shy, I wanted to give him money, but my father told me never to talk to strangers, so I just ignored him. The next thing I remember he was lying on the ground, and there was blood everywhere, they drug him away before he was even dead." Belle shook her head. "I asked one of the guards why it was such harsh treatment, they just said it was because my father wanted everyone to know that he was to be feared, so he could instill fear into everyone, even the harmless beggars."

"If you gave him some money he wouldn't have died." Alan said.

Belle turned to him with a frown. "What were you like when you were twelve? I've grown up."

"Over four years?" Alan scoffed.

"I can hold Marian's horse." Belle said harshly, holding out her hands for the reins. "You can leave?"

He didn't relieve them to her. "Are you trying to dismiss me? You're not in your castle."

"How do you deal with him?" Belle asked Djaq. "He seems like an ass to me."

"Oh, he is." The short man said.

"Now, I don't know all of your names." Belle said. "But you seem to know mine."

"Much," the short man told her.

"John," the tall man told her.

Belle nodded. "Good to meet you, Marian's told me stories."

"How did you get her to trust you?" Djaq asked.

"I caught her stealing money from my father, and gave her some more." Belle told her. "I didn't know it was her at the time, but I figured out that every time I'd mention where money was coming in or out to her, she'd tell you guys, or do it herself. It wasn't too hard to figure out to be honest."

"Clever girl." Djaq admired. "And you're the Sheriff's daughter? Who's your mother?"

Belle nodded. "I don't know who my mother is, though. He refuses talk about it."

"Probably killed her." Alan muttered.

"Alan!" Much, John, Will, and Djaq all reprimanded.

"That's crossed my mind." Belle muttered stoically, as Marian and Robin stepped out of the woods. "Can we go now?" Belle called out to her. "I'd like to get to Locksley before he leaves the castle."

Marian shook her head. "Patience is a virtue." She took the reins from Alan, and got on her horse. "We'll leave the money here when we get it. Can you take it from there?" She asked Robin.

He bowed, somewhat mockingly. "As you wish."

Belle and Marian kicked their horses into a canter, going towards Locksley.

"So that's the girl Gisborne's after?" Alan asked.

"Yeah," Robin said.

"Bit too opinionated, don't you think?" He asked, earning a smack from Djaq.

"And what would you call me?" She demanded.

"I didn't mean it like that."

"I think you think she's pretty." Robin teased.

"That stuck up child?" He replied. "No way."


	2. Chapter 2

Belle couldn't stop giggling after they left Guy's house, they only stopped a moment to get changed into normal clothes, before going to wait for Robin Hood and his gang to collect the money from them.

When they got there, Belle was laughing. Not proper, like a girl her age should be, but she couldn't help it...she just felt so...felt so...free. She all but leaped off her horse, and started spinning in the darkness of night. She felt like she had nothing at all to fear. She was able to breathe in the cold night air and laugh as if no one could hear her; of it they did she couldn't find it in her to care.

"That isn't safe, Belle." Marian hissed at her, calling Belle out of her trance, though she couldn't let the smile on her face fade. Belle was four years younger than her, and never had time to be a girl. Her entire childhood was training and education. She didn't have time to dance around with other children. It was times like this when she forgot to tense her features and let her guard down. She looked young and happy without a care in the world. A rare thing.

Belle looked up at her, she had an amused look on her face. "I'm just so happy."

"You did well your first time out." Marian told her. "I'm a bit proud.

Even in the moonlight, Marian could see Belle's blush gracing her cheeks. "Can we do it again? Soon?" Belle asked.

"Yes," Marian told her. "Just remember not to smile when you hear about it tomorrow."

"I won't. I'll be the sympathetic Belle." Belle replied, petting her horse's neck. "Guy won't suspect a thing." She whispered. "And if he does…well, I'll take care of it."

"Belle—" Marian started to warn.

"Well, finally." Robin interrupted, carrying a torch. "We were about to leave."

"You know better than to do that." Marian told him.

Belle got the bags of coins from her saddlebags, as Alan, who was on a horse stopped next to her. "I'll take those."

"Why didn't Djaq come?" Belle groaned. "I like her."

"I'm afraid he's all you got." Robin told her.

Belle rolled her eyes, and tossed the small bags to him. "I'd give you my saddlebags, but I'm afraid Guy will notice them missing."

"No one would want that." Alan said sarcastically. "You look like a girl."

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing." She replied, making Marian cough to cover a laugh.

"You can't take a compliment, can you?" He replied, as he put them in the saddlebags.

"I thought it was an observation." Belle said, looking him straight in the eyes. "A compliment is when someone says something flattering, not as matter-of-fact as you did. Obviously I look like a woman because I am one."

"You look beautiful this evening." He told her.

She straightened her back, surprised by this outlaw. What caused his change of heart? "Thank you." She turned her back to him under the pretense of getting more bags of money, though she actually had a confused look on her face and she didn't want him to see it.

"What is it like?" She asked, as she slowly got more bags of coins. "Living out here in the forest, I mean." If he would be nice to her, she would be nice to him.

"Not as plush as fancy castles, I suppose." He stated.

She let out a soft laugh. "I wouldn't mind, it sounds wonderful, like finally being free." She turned, and handed him the last bag of money, their fingers touching for a second. "No one to tell you what to do, or how to dress, or who to talk to. You can do as you like."

He looked at her, confused by how she had gone from irritated to sweet in under a minute. "I guess."

She smiled up at him. "I know this doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry my father almost killed all of you. I know that he is not a good person. I hope I don't become like him when I get older."

"Honestly I don't think you're capable." He told her. "His kind are like that from birth."

She smiled slightly, her eyes softening. "Good, because I intend to leave at least ten pounds every Tuesday afternoon here and I would like for the right people to find it." She told him.

"I'll be here." He told her, looking curiously at the girl in front of him.

XXXXX

Belle could sing, she didn't do it often in front of people, but when she was alone in her room the next afternoon, she did. She didn't know where the song came from, she thought it was an old lullaby someone must have sung to her as a young child.

_Just close your eyes, you'll be all right. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound. _

_Don't you dare look out your window, darling, everything's on fire, the war outside keeps raging on, hold on to this lullaby, even when the music's gone. Gone._

_Just close your eyes, the sun is going down. You'll be all right, no one can hurt you now. Come morning light, you and I'll be safe and sound. _

She didn't know any other verses, just those few, the rest she just vocalized to the tune, though she had no lessons, she was blessed with a voice as smooth as silk, and as beautiful as she was.

Unlike many other women her age with her amount of money and servants, she chose to dress herself, today it was in a blue dress that she could easily move in, whether to ride a horse, or to run, her hair wasn't pinned in any way, just let around her in a golden curtain, as she tossed it back and forth around her.

Guy always seemed to let her get away with more when she had it down, and she wanted to make sure he treated her well since he was in a very bad mood. The proof of that was when he couldn't even be civil to Marian or her father when he came to collect her, but he still helped her onto her horse. Though he didn't speak much, he still treated her well.

She walked through the castle, her head held high as she went to visit her father since he called for her. She didn't know why he called her so officially.

"Belle!" He cried clapping his hands together. Both he and Guy were sitting at the wooden table.

A confused look appeared on her face. "Why so joyful, father? What is the good news?" She went to her father's side, and kneeled next to him, putting her hands on the arm of his chair, and looking up at him with big blue eyes, like she saw no flaws in him, like she did as a small child. She was much less innocent now.

He took her hands in his. "Your boy, Gisborne here has asked to court you."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. It wasn't that she didn't expect it at all, she just didn't expect it so soon. She thought she had another year at least.

"I gave it to him." He told her, waiting to see happiness flash across her face. "But you can do as you please."

Belle nodded, her lips spreading into a smile. "I always do, Father, but I do prefer to be asked by the man himself."

"Cheeky, just like I raised you." He told her, squeezing her hands. "How was your night?"

"Very good." She told him. "It's nice to have a friend to talk to, it gets awfully lonely here, sometimes."

"And there's no one else you would like to be friends with?" He asked.

Belle shook her head. "Marian and I get along well, we have the same heart."

"I don't think so," the sheriff said. "She is associated with outlaws."

"Before they became outlaws, Father." She reminded him, easily hiding the smile behind the one she already had on her lips. "You can't judge someone on who they are around, but who they are, how many times must I remind you?"

"Everyday apparently." He sighed, sitting back in his chair.

She smiled. "I came to tell you that I am going for a ride, I should be back before supper."

"Without a guard?" He asked.

"I'll have my knives and a sword." She told him. "I'll be perfectly safe, you did have me trained for a reason, may I remind you."

"Of course," he said. "I'll have a search party sent if you are not back by sundown."

She stood back up and kissed her father's forehead, before turning to Guy and looking him over. "Goodbye." She left, making sure to add a little pop to her step as she did so.

She went to saddle her horse, if her father found out he would say they have people to do it for them, but she had learned, and wanted to put it to use so it would not be forgotten.

As Belle was checking the saddle's tightness, Guy came for her.

"I always knew you would do it yourself." He said.

"I do not want to forget." She told him, taking the horse's bridle and trying to coax the bit into the her mouth, but the horse's head reared up out of Belle's reach.

"Let me," he said, taking the bridle from her, and putting it on the horse easily.

"Thank you." She told him, as he put the reigns to where she could reach them when she got on the saddle.

She pulled herself onto the saddle, and took the reigns.

"So are you happy about today?" He asked.

"I'm not unhappy." She told him. "But it will take far more than my father's acceptance to win me over. I have a mind of my own."

"And what a wonder it is." He told her. "I seem to win you over sometimes."

"Perhaps, but I do like changing my mind."

"That I have noticed." He stated. "Will the wonders of your mind never cease?"

She leaned over and put her arm on his shoulder, bracing herself so she would not fall. "It should not, I've spent years making it so." Her eyes flashed over his shoulder, just long enough to see Robin Hood and his men sneaking into the castle. She locked eyes with Djaq before she felt the urge to roll her eyes. They should know better than to come in here in broad daylight. But she settled for returning her eyes to Guy's and kissing him, until she knew it was long enough for them all to get through, then she pulled away.

"Let's see how things go." She told him, taking the reigns in one hand and running her thumb nail under her lower lip. "Maybe I can make a man out of you."

"I'm already a man."

She shook her head, touching his cheek lightly, and running her fingers over his jaw. "Not yet." She squeezed her heels into the horse, and left the courtyard at a trot, leaving Guy to wonder what she had meant.

She had happy it was Tuesday, as much as the man she was about to see infuriated her, he also intrigued her. No one had ever been so bluntly honest with their thoughts to her. She liked it.

She had more than ten pounds, but since ten pounds was a small amount, she wanted to see if he would come, if he did then she had intrigued him as much as he did her. It was very sneaky of her to do, but she only could do so much in her position.

When she entered the meadow, she heard his voice. "So you were named after the word, _beauty_?"

"Yes," she told him, as he walked straight for her. She stopped her horse, and smiled. "I may be conceited, but it's worked for me in the last few years." She lifted up her skirt to get the bag of coins off her thigh, before she tossed it to him, and he caught it easily. "I also saw Robin sneaking into the castle when I left, he didn't get caught thanks to me. Mind to tell me what he's after?"

"They heard that taxes were collected today." He told her.

"And you didn't go with them?" She asked.

"Prior commitments."

She nodded, smiling. "Worth more than ten pounds?"

"Way more."

"How much?"

"Dozens."

She laughed. "And where did you get those coins?"

"I wouldn't say I'm getting their worth in coins."

She swung her leg over the horse, and landed with a soft _thud_ on the ground. The grass beneath her boots crunched. "What is worth more than money?"

"Time with a beautiful woman?"

"This must be a special girl," she said. "To tame a man who lives in the forest. Unless you're Robin, then all you need is a Marian in your life."

"That is very true, Belle." He agreed. "How old are you?"

"Sixteen." She told him. "You?"

"Four and twenty."

She smiled. "Old man."

"Not as old as your father, if I recall correctly." He said.

"Of course not, he's ancient." Belle scoffed, before sighing, remembering what he agreed to, she had hoped that he would have at least made Guy wait another year or two.

"What's wrong?" Alan asked.

"Guy got permission from my father to court me." She told him, taking a deep breath. "I had hoped that my father would deny him at least the first time. You know, let me be a tease just a little longer."

"So you really don't like it there?" He asked. "With the servants and the soft bed, and food?"

"Not when no one is honest." Belle told him. "Honestly is a rare gift."

"I'm not being funny, but is that why you wanted me to meet you here?" He asked.

"Partly."

"What's the other part?"

"Curiosity." She answered simply.

"Curious about what?" He asked.

"You. The forest. Name it." She stated. "I have had a very sheltered life, you know."

"As Vaisy's daughter? I have no doubt." He replied.

Belle nodded, looking doubt. "I wonder if that's why he wants me married off."

"He's courting you, there's nothing about marriage yet." He stated.

"It will happen soon." Belle replied. "If it is not brought up by fall then I will be surprised."

"You seem to know when everything will happen." He said.

Belle laughed lightly. "Then you know nothing, Alan."


	3. Chapter 3

"Did you hear Belle when she saw us sneaking in?" Djaq asked, sounding a bit worried and excited at the same time as they got back to camp. She liked the little blonde rebel though she had only truly met her once.

"What did she say?" Alan asked, a little too quickly.

"She told Gisborne he wasn't a man." Djaq said. "Said she was going to make him one."

"What did he say to that?" Robin laughed.

"She didn't give him a chance, it seems like she really does like dominating over people." Djaq said. "Alan, why did you stay behind today?"

"Just a little tired." He told her.

"Really?" Much asked, picking up a bag of coins. "This wasn't here before."

"Yeah, well I found it." Alan told them.

"With a pretty blonde attached to it?" Robin asked, grinning.

"Shut it."

"Stuck a nerve, have I?" Robin asked. "I though she was some headstrong girl."

"She is." Alan muttered.

"And you like it." Djaq punched his shoulder

"Ow!"

XXXXX

Belle was having a good day. It was Tuesday, so she was about to ride out with the twenty pounds, two crowns and sixteen shillings which she had nicked from her father when he wasn't looking, something she had always been good at. He would never suspect his daughter to take money from him; if she ever wanted anything, she would just ask and he would give it to her. That's how it had always been before.

Guy had gotten less careful about their trysts, something Belle was not fond of. She usually could keep it to when she either needed a favor or wanted to distract him, but not anymore. Now he could find her anywhere at any time. She knew what he was doing. He was intimidating all other men who would possibly want to have her hand.

"Why must you go?" He asked her, as she backed away from him.

"It's what I do. I need some room to breathe." She told him.

"You can't breathe here?" He asked.

"Under my father's eye?" _Under your eye_, she didn't add. "No." She turned on her heel and walked away. "I will be back soon."

As always she saddled her horse, and rode off into the meadow. She knew Guy wouldn't dare follow her. If she was upset with him, her father would be too. No one wanted to have the sheriff upset with them. Heads would roll.

Alan was already waiting for her, leaning against a tree.

"Oh, now you show up?" He asked.

"Guy held me up." She told him. "That man needs to learn when I am busy."

"I take it he follows you around like a dog." Alan said.

"Perfectly put." She told him, before sighing. She made him sound worse than he was. "We're getting visitors in four days, coming along the North Road, I don't know why, but the odds are they will be carrying money on them at the very least. You guys might want to check it out."

"We will." He said, before laughing. "Marian's going to be unneeded if you keep this up."

"No, she's needed for morale, plus Robin's completely in love with her." Belle told him simply. "He doesn't only want glory. He wants to get the girl."

"You know that?"

"Since the moment I saw them together." Belle told him. "I'm good at reading people."

"Another part of your training, i suppose?" Alan asked.

"No, this one's all me." She told him, walking towards him, until they were close enough to touch. "Not everything's about training. Robin and Much are the only ones here with training, but you all get along fine."

"But I can't hit a knife into a tree from twenty yards away." He said.

"I can teach you." She told him.

"I'd like that." He smiled, which she returned.

XXXXX

"Who is here?" Belle asked Guy when the unknown visitor came. She wasn't sure if it was because her father didn't want her to know, or because it was something she _couldn't _know about. Usually with the second she would find out anyway, though she would have to keep it a secret. It was hard to keep a secret in this castle; it seemed she was the only one who was good at it.

"None of your concern." He told her.

"They are in my home, I believe it is my concern." Belle replied, unwilling to be put aside. "Why do we have a visitor?"

"Your father does not wish for you to know."

She sighed. "I'm not as ignorant as you think. You don't think I know how many hangings we have? Or the fact that when we have a guest I'm told to go to my room with no explanation? Don't bid me a fool, Guy. I'm smarter than that." Stormed past him, her skirts swishing angrily around her legs.

"Belle," he called after her, but she ignored him, going to get her horse from the stables, and leaving, without telling anyone.

She was happy she had braided her hair that morning, it would make it less messy as she rode through the woods, hoping that Alan would find her as she took the long way to Marian's house, not even bothering to go a good speed, but transitioning from a walk to a trot periodically.

There was a man standing in the middle of the road, a hood over his head.

"This is how it works," he said. "Tell us what you have and we'll only take one tenth. Lie, and we take it all." Robin looked up. "Oh, it's you."

"Belle," Alan came out of the trees. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on my way to see Marian." She told them. "Did you get the visitor?"

Robin nodded. "Only took a tenth. He didn't fight us."

"Who is it?" She asked.

"No idea, some duke from Prussia." Alan told her.

"Those twats! That's it?" She seethed. "I'm sick of them not telling me anything."

Alan raised his eyebrows at her language.

"Either way, he probably had a lot of money on him, right?" She asked. "They turned the hall in the castle into a gambler's paradise. The Black Knights are also coming in a few days, right after he leaves day after tomorrow."

Robin and Alan looked at each other, before Robin looked back at Belle. "Can you find out more?" He said this like he knew she already could.

She nodded. "I'll make sure we bump into each other, if that's what you're asking. I know you can appear anywhere, and I know I won't be able to get out of the castle after today, so can one of you meet me in my room tomorrow afternoon?"

"Why can't you get out?" Alan asked.

"I didn't tell anyone I was leaving, I'll be punished for it." She told them simply. It had happened before.

"How?" Alan asked.

"It's not usually too bad, house arrest for a few days." She told them. "I can handle it."

"I'm not being funny, but what if you got roughed up by an outlaw?" Alan asked.

She raised her eyebrows for a second. "Some of me wants to find out." She got off her horse. "Make it look real." She held out her arms from her body, inviting them to rough her up.

"You didn't bring your knives today." He noticed as he pulled some of her hair out of her braid.

"I'll leave this to you." Robin said, before diving into the trees.

"Are you going to take one earring or both."

"I was thinking both." He told her, his finger touching the gaudy dark metal hanging from her earlobe. "You're not fond of them, are you?"

"Guy gave them to me, I think they're too gaudy. Be sure to take the necklace too, the worst gift my aunt ever gave me." She told him.

His face was close to hers, and he looked into her eyes when he spoke. "I would like to kiss you."

"I would like you to kiss me." She replied.

So he did, as he took off her necklace, and putting his hand in her hair, messing it up further.

A little while later, when she got back on her horse. "Oh, and you can kiss me any time." She told him.

"I plan to take advantage of that."

"I'd be disappointed if you didn't." Her hand was on his cheek, before she smiled, and kicked her horse into a trot, then a canter. Wanting to make it look real.

She arrived in the courtyard, crying, giving on of the Guards her horse as her father came down the stairs, Guy following him.

"Where have you been?" He yelled, before he saw her face, as she went towards him to embrace him as she cried. "What happened?"

"Outlaws," she cried. "In the forest. I was upset and didn't even notice them until it was too late, Papa." She knew then she had him in the palm of her hand, that's what she used to call him as a small child, and only reserved it for when she was either scared or sad, like she was turning back into her child self. She hugged her father around his middle, sinking to her knees

"Robin Hood?"

She nodded, hiding her face, in her father's stomach.

"Gisborne!" He called, careful not to yell in his daughter's ear. "Take Belle to her room, and see if she has any injuries, I will be there soon."

Belle was happy she took a knife from Alan to scratch her arm with, though he wasn't when he stopped her from doing another.

It was probably still bleeding, he made her sit in a chair at her desk and called to one of the servants to get a bowl of water and a cloth.

He cleaned the scratch, which she thought she just nicked her skin, but she actually got a good cut in her.

"Why did you leave?" He asked her, as he wiped away the blood.

"I'm not so trusting, I know when things are going on, I thought you knew that." She said. "You don't, so I got mad and needed to clear my head."

"So you blame me." He said.

"Not for this." She told him, gesturing to her hurt arm. "I'm fine, it's just a scratch anyway." She took the cloth from him and held it to her arm to stop the bleeding. "You may go."

"Are you dismissing me?" He asked, incredulously.

"Yes," she told him, looking him straight in the eye, trying to see which was dominate. Of course it was her.


	4. Chapter 4

"How do you play?" She asked the Duke, or as he told her to call him, Frederick. Her father couldn't confine her to her room forever. She got out easier than she believed she could. There was no way her father was really trying.

"You wish to know how to gamble?" He asked.

"I wish to find the attraction to it." She replied. "I don't see why someone could lose all their money from playing a game, wouldn't they get bored? Don't you get bored?"

"Not as easily as you might think." He told her, before explaining what to do, showing her how to roll the dice, and things like that.

After a while, she excused herself, to go try to find out where Guy and her father had went. She went into the part of the castle she shouldn't be, and ran into two guards.

"Hello, Lady Belle." One said.

"Hello," she said, trying to move passed him, but he stepped back in front of her, not letting her pass. "Can I get through?"

"No one is allowed through miss." He said, advancing on her. "You look very pretty today." He told her, his eyes wandering over her chest, which was showing some skin today. "How about a kiss?"

"How about no." She replied, standing a little taller. "Have you forgotten who I am?"

"I already know you're with the Deputy." He said, grabbing her arm, and pulling her closer as he stepped forward. "I'm sure another wouldn't bother you."

Before she could even punch him, the man was on the ground, the same with the other guard.

She looked to see Frederick standing beside her.

"Thank you." She heard Guy and her father coming, so she took his hand, and pulled him into a large room with a map of England on a table. "We can't be seen here." Belle pulled him behind a pillar as Guy and her father came in.

"After that booby loses tonight we will have enough money for the Black Knights." Her father bragged happily.

"What if he doesn't lose?" Guy replied.

Even though Belle couldn't see her father, she could tell that he was smiling.

"You thought about that, didn't you?"

Belle pressed her hands to her face.

"All eventualities have the house winning." Sheriff Vaisey said.

Belle's eyes wandered back to Frederick, who was shaking his head almost like he expected it. He didn't look surprised, but he also looked like he couldn't believe this was actually happening. Belle didn't know what to think about that. If he knew her father would not play fair, why would he even come? Why would he play the game?

After Guy and the Sheriff left, Frederick spoke.

"Does he not think his reputation has not made it to all of Europe?" He seethed.

"What are you going to do?" Belle asked.

"Leave, I will be struck by a sudden illness and my people and I shall leave." He told her.

"Don't," she told him. "Help me."

"Why?" He asked, looking to her as if she was a part of the plot. "Aren't you his daughter? Do you not help him?"

"I'm not one of the Sheriff's lackeys. I may be his daughter, but I'm a prisoner here in my own way. I have some friends that want to relieve the Sheriff of his money, just meet them and make your choice." Belle said, her voice quiet but strong.

He chewed on his cheek for a moment. "Fine, how do me meet these friends of yours?"

XXXXX

"So you know where they live?" He asked when they were on their horses an hour later. They had been wandering around a while, and he was starting to lose his faith in her.

"I'm actually hoping they'll find us." She told him honestly as they continued to follow a trail she had met Allen on often.

"Well, what do we have here?" Robin said, coming out of the trees.

"He robbed me this morning." The Duke said, but he didn't say it like he was too upset about it. It was just a statement. "This is your friend?"

"He'll give it back if this works." Belle told him.

"I will?" Robin asked, surprise in his tone.

Belle gave him a look. "Frederick here wants to help you get into my father's strongroom."

"Why?"

"He plans not to play fair." Frederick told him. "So neither am I."

"I could've told you that." Much stated, coming out from behind a tree and going to stand beside robin, Alan walked over from the other side.

"You need to get into the strongroom tonight." Belle told Robin.

"No, we're not ready." Will said.

"If not tonight, don't try at all, it's being emptied tomorrow." Belle told him. "It's now or never."

"Do you have a plan?" Alan asked.

Belle nodded. "It might be a bit stupid."

"We like stupid." Robin replied.

XXXXX

"Be safe." Frederick told Belle, kissing her hand. "If you are ever in Germany my castle is always open to you."

"Thank you." She told him. "Be sure to stay off the main roads."

She took a step away from the carriage, and it was off. She waved for a second, before hurrying into her room, where she found Alan.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, quickly closing the door behind her. "If you were caught here."

"You said that someone should sneak into the castle so you could talk to them." He reminded her.

"That was before we went into the forest." She said. "This is just reckless."

"Reckless but," he leaned down to kiss her. "I don't think you mind."

She kissed him back. "You're a fool."

"You like it." He told her.

They kissed again.

There was a banging on the door. "Belle!" It was Guy.

Belle pushed allen Away "How did you get in here?" She whispered urgently.

"Window." He told her, his eyes darting to it.

"Can you get out? You'll be killed if you're found." She turned her head and called to the door. "A minute please!" She pushed Alan towards the window, before pressing a quick kiss on his lips. "I'll try to get out of here tomorrow morning."

"I'll hold you to that," he told her, getting out of the window, and grabbing the rope to climb down.

She laughed quietly. "Go!"

He smiled up at her as we went down the rope.

She shook her head, wiping the smile on her face as she went to the door, and opened it. "Hello Guy."

"Where is Frederick?" He asked.

"After I was dismissed, I came straight here. I have no idea." She lied. "Why? What's happened?"

"All the money is gone." He told her. "Robin Hood robbed your father tonight."

"Did he?" Belle's eyebrows came together. "That's terrible. Is my father okay? Was anyone harmed?"

He searched her face for a sign of something, but found nothing but concern.

"Is my father okay?" She asked again.

"He seems to think I upset you earlier today."

"You did." She told him. "Now if you don't mind, I would like to be alone."

"Did you tell him?"

"Why does it matter? Nothing matters here. If you want to know though, no. I did not." She told him. "Do I have to tell you to leave again?"

"I won't until you kiss me." He told her.

She rolled her eyes, and put her hand on his shoulder, allowing him to kiss her for barely more than five seconds, before breaking away. "Goodnight."

"Now, Belle, that doesn't count." He told her.

She was too tired to argue, so she let him kiss her, she let him suck on the side of her neck, she left him pull her body against his to feel her curves against his body, she let him touch her. She just let him.

She was able to get him to leave after a few minutes of it, hating herself for it.

She didn't lie to herself. Guy was a good looking man, he was strong and beautiful dark blue eyes. She used to have a crush on him when she was younger too. But you don't judge a man on his looks, or how he treats you, you judge him on how he treats his inferiors. Guy did not meet her expectations in that way. He treated anyone lesser than him badly. She could only imagine how he would treat a woman he didn't have to respect. She wondered how he would treat her if her father wasn't above him.

She knew she was just having a dalliance with Alan, but she liked going against what her father would want, and with someone who would be honest with her. She was sixteen years old and needed her little rebellion.

This was her little rebellion.

XXXXX

Weeks later, Belle was happier than she had ever been before. She had to wear her hair down to cover the love bites on her neck and collarbone from Guy. Once she even tricked him into believing they were from him. She was rather proud of herself for that one.

"What if I told you that I had enough money to take you away from here?" Alan asked, playing with her hair. Her head was in his lap, laying on the grass and soaking up the sun.

"I'd wonder why you would want to." She whispered.

"Because I like you."

"Then I would ask if you were serious." She said, opening one eye to look at him.

"I am."

"If I run away I can't stay in this part of England. My father would tear the world apart to find me." She told him, sitting up to look him in the eye. "Would you be willing to do that?"

He nodded. "I don't have the money to do that yet, though."

"Do you want to do that?" She asked, skeptically. "Leave all this behind, go somewhere and set up a normal life? No more running about in the woods?"

"Yeah."

She sighed. "I can't. I'm needed here."

"You might not always be." He told her. "In the meantime, I'll save enough money."

"You don't have to do this." She told him, looking down and tearing a bit of grass from the earth. "I'm not the kind of girl to ask a man to do this."

"Which is why I want to." He told her. "I love you."

That made her eyes flash to his. "I love you too." And she did.


	5. Chapter 5

"There's a traitor in my camp." Robin told Belle, when she was in the market the next day. His hood was up so she couldn't see his face. But that was expected, since the guards around her couldn't see his face either.

"How do you know?" She whispered, pretending to look at a blue dress.

"The information you gave me, about the spy who is going to tell the sheriff where King Richard is making port didn't show." He whispered to her.

"I didn't lie." She told him, trying not to move her lips.

"I know you didn't, which is why I'm telling you to be careful, and at the first sign of trouble run to the woods. Light a candle at your window tonight to show that you're all right. I will find you when I have more news." He told her, before disappearing into the crowd.

A traitor in the camp? There was no way, they were all too loyal for their own good, of that's what Belle thought.

She bought the dress she was holding, and went back to the castle, snapping her fingers at her guards so they would follow her. She wanted to find out more. She needed to know if she was safe. She didn't, though she did find out that the traitor met at the inn with Guy. She needed to find Robin, but was happy to find Marian instead. She told her everything, she told her to find Robin and tell him.

XXXXX

Belle went into her room that night, awaiting word from Robin or Marian, or whoever Robin sent to tell her. She was a little tipsy from all the wine she drank because she was anxious of the result. She didn't fall asleep, though. She refused to. She would go to her room and do something to try to distract her.

She gasped when she saw Alan standing behind the door.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, hitting his arm. "You scared me to death!"

"Sorry," he told her. "I was just wondering if I could stay here tonight."

"Why?"

"It's kind of uncomfortable there right now." He told her. "Nothing funny, I just don't want to either be on wet grass or there."

"Okay." She told him. "Why is it so uncomfortable at the camp?" She asked, fishing for some information about who the traitor was, or if they found out who yet.

"Uh, nothing important." He told her.

She nodded, turning away. "Okay, we'll I'm going to get changed." She walked into her bathing chamber, heart racing. Not because she would be sharing a room with a man-it wasn't the first time-but because she suddenly thought it was worse than before. How bad was the betrayal? So bad that Alan didn't feel comfortable to stay there?

She took her hair out of the complicated bun at the base of her neck, and put it in a braid to sleep in, and changed into her nightdress, white silk.

When she came back out he said. "I'll sleep on the floor."

"No, the bed's big enough for two." She told him, getting in on one side. "Goodnight."

XXXXX

"Belle!" Robin said, the next morning. "What are you doing?"

She opened her eyes, before the glare of the sun made her groan. A hand went up to shield her eyes. "What is it, Robin?"

"I found out the traitor." He told her. "He's sleeping beside you."

Belle sat straight up, and pushed the arm that was on her, along with the whole man, off the side of the bed.

"Wha-"

"You betrayed them?" Belle asked, getting up out of the bed. "What, was I next?"

"What?" Alan asked, getting up and looking between her and Robin. "No, no!"

"Get out!" She told him quietly, dangerously quiet.

"Belle no, you have to listen to me!" He pleaded. "I did it for you! The money was going to our life together!"

She looked at him, her expression between heartbroken and disgust. "I don't even want it anymore." She whispered harshly.

"Belle-"

"Get out." She told him.

"Be-"

"Get out before I yell for help." She told him. "Last warning."

He looked over his shoulder, out the window, before going out of it, knowing she wasn't bluffing, and in no mood to speak to him right now. He would make it up to her. He had to make it up to her.

"Are you all right?" Robin asked. "I know you liked him."

She wasn't willing to feel pain over some man now. "I will get over it. I will never feel for someone who is a coward or a traitor."

"You can't always choose who to feel for." He told her. "I can make sure he stays away from you if you like."

She shook her head. "He won't come near me. If I know his character at all I know he will be sure to avoid me for a while. When he does show his face around me again, I will be indifferent." She held up her chin high, beautiful even with a messy braid and in her nightgown, her eyes still somewhat sleepy, though she stood tall, as if ready to fight.

"Should I tell Marian to come here?" Robin asked.

The stone wall around her crumbled a bit as her demeanor shifted to one of hurting. Her shoulders hunching over a bit and her arms wrapping around herself. "Yes, please."

He nodded. "I'll see you later, Belle. If he does sell you out I will come for you and help you escape."

"Thank you." She said. "I will try to have more news for you next time we meet."


	6. Chapter 6

Days later is when she saw Alan again. She was told to stay in her room while the Black Knights were there, though she did collect little bits of information she was able to send through Marian to Robin Hood. She made sure whenever Alan was near her he wouldn't be able to speak to her. Though mostly the only man who wasn't her father that she spoke to often was Guy.

"Belle, are you all right?" Guy asked her as she sat by the window in one of the rooms, daydreaming.

She turned towards him. Suddenly she was no longer in the forest. "Yes, I was just thinking."

"About?"

"You." She lied easily, looking up at him. Her face changed from blank to the false happiness she was able to play so well. She

He kneeled next to her so she was taller than him, she put a hand on his cheek, pushing his hair away from his face. She fell in love with a man much like him, dishonest, and after money and power, but showed kindness to her. Maybe she should give in to her fate and just try to be happy with this man. It seemed the only man she could get was like him, so why even try to find a man who was kind to others? What was the point? Maybe one day she could turn him into a good man. Maybe she could show him how to be a good man. Maybe she was just fooling herself.

Guy leaned up and kissed her. She wouldn't lie to herself and say she disliked him kissing her. She could tell by them that he wanted her to want him as much as he wanted her. She liked the way he always took off his gloves when she was around so if there was a chance of him touching her it would be skin-to-skin and no barrier between them. She liked the way he didn't touch her like she was breakable; he knew better than that. She liked the way he would kiss her under her ear and make her let out a little moan. She liked how this man could make her body want him when her mind would always said no to him. She liked that he wanted her, she liked that she could say one word and this man of power would try to fulfill her wishes.

So when he pulled away for a second, and said. "Marry me."

She only hesitated a moment. No matter her answer there was no turning back. Either he would love her or hate her. Even if she refused, she would just be putting off the inevitable. At one point she would marry him, either by force or because she finally gave into him. In the end, she had no choice.

"Yes." She whispered softly. "I will marry you."

A smile broke across his face before he kissed her, feeling ecstatic though she felt numb. He kissed her hard, pulling her against him with an iron grasp.

"Giz?" Alan walked in looking as numb as Belle felt when he saw them like that. "The sheriff-er-wants you."

Guy pulled away from Belle, turning over his shoulder to sneer at the traitor. "Can't you see I'm preoccupied?" Guy asked him.

Belle put a smile on her face, and stroked his cheekbone with her thumb. "Go ask my father's permission, it's easier than asking for his blessing." Why was she helping him? Was it to get rid of him, or was it because she wanted to marry him? She didn't know. "He won't say no to you."

He took her hand and kissed it. "Wait for me?"

"I will stay right here." She promised him. "Don't be long."

"I won't." He told her, standing up and leaving the room.

Alan kept looking at her. The hurt evident on his face.

"Don't look at me like that." She told him, leaning against the cold wall.

"You love me." He told her.

"No, I loved the man who I thought you were." She corrected. "It doesn't matter, it's over now."

"It does matter, I never lied to you." He told her, coming closer to her, but she stood up and walked to the other side of the room, him following her, not letting over ten feet between them. He tried to touch her shoulder, but she turned around, trying to back hand him in the process, but he caught her wrist. He knew what move she would try to make.

"Now, Love, don't do that." He said, catching her other wrist before she slapped him, and pinning her between the wall and his body.

She jutted her chin out stubbornly. "Get off of me."

"No," he told her. "Not until you listen to me."

She wiggled against him, trying to find some give. Even though she was strong for a woman, the man in front of her was still stronger and held her with a little difficulty.

"I will never listen to you, now get off me." She told, him trying to push against him, or get her legs free enough to knee him. "I know what you did-what you've done, and I don't want to be a part of it. You've chosen your path and I've chosen mine."

He looked her in the eyes, finding loathing and sadness in them. He kissed her.

This wasn't one of the gentle sweet kisses that he usually gave her, this one was passionate and desperate, trying to get her to admit that she still loved him.

She didn't kiss him back, instead she kneed him in the groin. He doubled over and groaned.

"Don't you ever touch me. You've lost that privilege." She stalked away, before stopping a few feet from him and turning slightly. "I could have you hanged for what you just did. Know that you owe me more than anyone else." Then she left, her steps echoing in the stone walled room. She hid behind a pillar until he left the room, then went back into the room as if nothing happened.

"Alan A'Dale, you owe me." She muttered, willing herself not to cry until tonight. She had promised herself the day after she cried that she would never cry over him again. She should have known it wouldn't be as easy as that.

She pulled her hair out of the bun it was in, not caring if it wasn't proper for someone of her standing, she just wanted to be free of the headaches from the pins, maybe then it would reduce the ones she had gotten from stress.

She waited until Guy came back in, the smirk on his face turning into a smile when he saw her.

"What did he say?" She asked. "Was I right, or was I right?"

"You were right." He told her. "If you say yes he wants us married by winter."

Belle nodded, but her smile didn't reach her eyes. "That doesn't give me much time."

"To do what?"

"Make a man out of you."

"You never did tell me what that meant." He told her.

"Come," she told him. "I have much to show you."

XXXXX

"Wait here," she told him, handing him the reins to her horse. "Just watch."

They were just outside of Locksley, but she made him stay out, the children wouldn't come to her if he was with her.

She took her cloth bag that had bread in it, and found one of the ten year old girls, who was singing to her baby brother, joining in to the song, and sitting next to them. The birds stopped singing to listen to Belle's voice.

Belle whispered something into the girl's ear, and the girl handed Belle the baby before running off somewhere.

Guy liked the way she looked holding the baby, knowing that probably within the year she would be pregnant with one if not holding one. His baby.

She rocked the baby back and forth, and Guy could hear her singing from where she was, a slow lullaby that had a tinge of sadness in it. Where did she learn such a one?

The girl returned with a group of children, all lining up around her, looking around to make sure she was alone, and not with Guy. She talked to them a little bit, the children raised their hands and she would call on them, let them answer her questions like they were at a school. This lasted for about an hour, she handed them each little things, and he could tell she called them all by name. One boy got gloves, a girl got a dress Belle had bought the week before, and so on, but all of them went home with something, including a small loaf of bread.

Guy always knew that she loved children, he often caught her scolding a child for stealing as if she was their mother before apologizing to the grocer and paying for what the child took, as well as more before giving it to the child to take home. He never knew that she would do this, riding an hour just to teach children and give them what they need. He watched her take out a slip of paper and write something down whenever a child would say something. A list, perhaps?

When she came back she looked stronger than ever, the empty bags over her shoulders, and a confident look in her eye.

"What do you think?" She asked, challenging him to tell her she couldn't do this.

"If your father finds out-"

"He won't. Even if he does he won't do anything to me." Belle told him.

"Yes, he will." Guy told her. "He's been displeased with you these last weeks."

Shock appeared on her face. "What?"

"Even when I asked for your hand he said that if you said know I could still have you." Guy told her. "He can't find out about this."

She swallowed. "No."

"If you hadn't been attacked by outlaws when you left you would have been put through worse than house arrest, Belle." He told her. "He knows you help the poor."

"How?"

Guy looked away.

"You-you told him?" Belle pressed a hand to her forehead. "I can't believe this."

"I thought it was a faze!" He said.

"Well it's not!" She told him. "I'm going to do this until I'm dead, I'm going to help other people, defy my father, break any unjust law until I die. No one can stop me. Not even you."

"I have to." He told her. "It's my job."

She took a deep breath, choosing her words carefully. "Then I refuse to marry you. I will run off and do something stupid, and you will never see me again. You try to force me to marry you, I'll be dead before we are ever married, if you try to stop me, I will find some way to take my life, you will have to force me without a dagger or sword, because I will impale myself on them. Do you want to know what I meant by becoming a man? It's what I'm doing right now. I am standing up for who I am and what I believe, I'm not letting anyone else tell me what to do. Want to try it? Stop being my father's spaniel and grow a pair."

He looked affronted by her crude language, as well as her threats to kill herself.

"Where did you learn to talk like that?" He asked.

"Around." She said. "So what are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to tell anyone." He told her. "You will marry me, and you can do what you like, as long as you come home to me, and you don't do it in Nottingham Town."

"I can agree to it." She replied. "But will you ever stand up to my father?"

He paused.

"He's just going to use you." She told him. "Like he used my mother, I know he wanted a son. He uses you to get what he wants, don't think that's going to change."

"It's my road to power, don't you want me to have power?" He asked, trying to get her to see.

"I would rather have you stand up for what you believe." She told him. "I don't care for money, just because my father as well as you buy me pretty things doesn't mean I need them."

"I will try." He told her. "But I am not jeopardizing my career when it doesn't need to be."

"I can live with that." She nodded, but that didn't mean she liked it. She had to start him somewhere.

A silence followed that, they searched the other's face for something, neither knowing what they were looking for.

"Do you do this in all the towns?" He asked.

"No, just Locksley," she told him.

"Why?"

"All the other towns have lords that care for them." She muttered, looking down at her hands.

He wasn't willing to admit that what she said stung a bit.

"They loved Robin, I hear stories all the time about things he has done. They still need to believe that nobles have souls, I gave them it." She explained. "At first they wouldn't talk to me, then Elizabeth talked to me, and I helped teach Kate, now when she doesn't help her mother she helps me teach. It's good to make a difference for the better in someone's life, it makes me feel like I'm making a difference, and I am."

"So you want to change the world. Belle..." he groaned.

"No, you can't tell me I'm not, or it's ridiculous. It's good." She told him with more passion than she had ever said with anything before. "I'm helping children understand things, and read, and write, arithmetic too."

"You can't change the world, Belle."

"No, but I can change Locksley." She replied.

"To have them overqualified to do their jobs?" He replied.

"It doesn't matter, with the tools I give them they might be able to make something more with their life." Belle said. "Everyone should be able to use these skills, someday everyone will."

"Are you so positive?" He asked. "I doubt it."

"I don't want to argue about that, it's irrelevant." She replied. "We've agreed to the other's terms, Locksley will be happy to see me as the mistress of the manor, you should be happy about that."

"Ecstatic." He replied.

She held out her hand to shake on it. "No one knows, deal?"

"If we get married in a month."

"Deal."

They shook on it.


	7. Chapter 7

Belle was riding in the woods a few days later, finally able to get away from the castle to see Djaq, instead she found Little John.

"John," she said, getting off her horse before it even stopped. "I haven't much time, I need to speak to Djaq."

"She's over the hill." He told her, pointing to his left. "What's your hurry?"

"I have to be at Knighton soon to speak to Marian." She told him. "I need to be back to the castle by dark." She got back on her horse. "Thank you."

She got her horse to a gallop and hurried until she found Djaq.

"I need your help." She told her. "I'm marrying Guy within the month."

"How can I help with that?" Djaq asked.

"I need something to stop me from getting pregnant. Please tell me you can get something."

"I can," she told her. "When is your wedding?"

"Three weeks from yesterday." She told her. "Please tell me I won't get pregnant."

"You won't." She promised. "I have herbs. I can have it ready by next week, you need to take it everyday at least starting a week before your wedding night."

Belle nodded. "I can do that." She took a deep breath.

"Now, why are you marrying him?"

"Safety." Belle told her. "It's nothing I can't handle."

"Belle..."

"I can handle it." She told Djaq. "But I don't need to get pregnant any time soon, so I need something to stop that."

"Belle, is this because of Alan?" She asked.

Belle shook her head, sadly. "No, this is about my father wanting me to be punished for something every teenager does, and Guy will protect me from that."

Djaq nodded. "Do you want me to tell Robin?"

Belle nodded. "Tell him that I'll still try to get information if it is possible, but I don't really know what's going to happen."

"Is Alan giving you any trouble?" She asked.

"No," Belle lied. "No, he has not."

XXXXX

"You're marrying Guy of Gisborne?" Marian groaned. "How did this happen?"

"My father said he could take me if I was willing or not." Belle told her. "I thought it would be better if I was willing. I might be able to get more out of it."

"How are you fine with this?" Marian asked.

"He has qualities." Belle replied, getting desperate for her to see.

"Like?"

"He has wealth, I think his feelings for me are genuine-"

"All superficial." Marian dismissed. "What if he whips you? What if he hits you? What if you only give him daughters?"

"I need to think of the good things, Marian." She begged. "Help me think of more."

Marian put a hand on the younger girl's knee. "He's easy to look at, your children will be beautiful."

Belle nodded. "He's okay with me teaching the children of Lockley to read and write."

"Really? So you told him?" Marian asked.

"I showed him." Belle replied. "He watched for nearly an hour from the trees."

"You made him hide?" Marian asked incredulously.

"The children are frightened of him, they wouldn't come out if he was around." Belle told her. "If there is one thing you can manipulate a man with, it is a child. Even if they only lust for you and see you holding a baby they will adore you."

"So you want to have children?"

"Not any time soon. Djaq is getting me herbs to stop me from getting pregnant." Belle told her. "I don't need to bring a baby into this world, I know I don't have to tell you why."

"I have to agree." Marian nodded. "What about...what about the wedding night."

Belle closed her eyes. "I know it's going to hurt. I know that." She opened them, her eyes meeting Marian's. "The only question is will he be nice about it or cruel."

"Are you going to ask him that?" Marian asked.

"Yes, I am." Belle told her. "I am not some blushing bride."

"I know you're not." Marian muttered. "So how is the traitor doing?"

"Fine," she said, playing with the skirt of her dress. "He kissed me last week, and got a bruise for it."

"Nothing since then?"

Belle shook her head. "I think he has gotten the message."

"You know how to do that well." Marian agreed.

Belle nodded. "I'm going to tell Guy that I don't want him hanging around our manor when we are wed."

"Does he?"

"Apparently he sleeps in the guest rooms." Belle told her, standing up. "It's sunset. I have to get back to the castle."

"You can stay here for the night." Marian told her.

Belle shook her head. "I have my first dress fitting in the morning, and Guy will be worried."

"You don't want to do this, do you?" Marian asked.

"I haven't a choice. What's done is done. This is the repercussions for it." Belle smoothed her dress. "Will you come to the wedding?"

Marian shook her head. "It is not the memory I would like to have."

Belle took her hand and squeezed it. "Thank you. The less witnesses the better."

"What of your father?" Marian asked. "What have you done to upset him?"

"Kindness." Belle replied. "Kindness is weakness and therefor must be extinguished."

"That's an awful thing to say."

"I think so too." Belle agreed. "I will see you soon."

"Very soon."

XXXXX

Belle is marrying another man, and it was something Alan did not like.

He was sent by Guy to get her from her dress fitting, and that was just too hard to see. It was a green gown that brought out the gold in her hair and eyes, a veil that blurred her face from the world, but he could still see her lips, which were painted bright red, and he could tell her lips are slightly parted.

"Lady Belle?" He says.

Her eyes flash to look at his reflection in the mirror, her lips turning into a frown. "What are you doing here?"

"Giz sent me to get you, you're needed at the castle." He told her.

"I was not the one that planned this." She scolded. "If they wanted me at the castle this morning they should have changed the fitting to another time."

"It doesn't matter." Alan said.

"Wait outside, I must get changed."

He left her, watching her over his shoulder as she took off the veil, and picked up the skirts to get off the stool, before he couldn't see anymore.

Belle took off the dress, getting into her other one. She personally loved the dress, at least she would look beautiful at her wedding if nothing else.

She had a gold ring on her ring finger, with little green stones embedded into the band. When Guy first gave it to her if felt like a thousand pounds, now she was used to the weight, and that scared her more than anything. She had given up, resigned to her fate, and let it control her life. She hated cowardice, and now she was being a coward.

The seamstresses told her they would sent the dress over to the castle for the wedding on Saturday. She thanked them and went on her way, finding Alan leaning against the wall.

"You look beautiful." He told her.

She ignored him, walking towards the castle.

"You shouldn't be marrying him." He told her.

"And you shouldn't be following me around." She replied. "I've made my choice, it's not like you can change it, or Robin, or Marian. Even if you tried you would just get hanged for it."

"You wouldn't change your decision given the chance?" He asked.

"That is none of your business, Alan." She told him. "You are Guy's lapdog, you do what he tells you, and I take it he sent you to collect me instead of waiting the half hour until I would have returned anyway."

"Yeah," he said. "That's it."

She didn't respond to him. She didn't like walking so close to him, he would not let more than a foot between them.

"You haven't talked to me in weeks, you know that?" He said.

"I wonder why," she sarcastically said back. "Nothing to do with being a traitor."

"I did it-" he stopped to look around, before lowering his voice for only her to hear. "I did it for you."

"I never asked you to, I would never ask you to." She told him. "I would have rather run away and lived in the forest for the rest of my life. Tried to be a part of Robin's gang without my father knowing more than just me running away."

"You said you couldn't."

"Doesn't mean I didn't want to." She replied as they came up to the castle. "Where are they? Guy, I mean." She asked, not looking at him though she spoke to him.

He told her where.

"Goodbye Alan." She dismissed him, going to find Guy in the stables. "What are you doing here?"

"I am taking you out for the day." He told her.

"What is the occasion?" She asked, as he helped her get on a horse behind him.

"We are getting married in two days." He said. "I thought you would like to see the lands."

"I've seen your lands, Guy." She replied. "What are we really doing?"

"I'm showing you the house." He told her, kicking his horse into a walk.

"All right." She replied, putting her arms around his chest, and hiding her face behind his shoulder. "I'll just find out when I get there."

He really did end up showing her the house, and meet their servants. When they were in the stables, she turned to him. "Are you going to still be nice to me after we are married?"

"Yes, of course," he replied, confused. "Why?"

"I don't want to be beaten and abused the rest of my life." She told him. "It's going to hurt on our wedding night." She said, barely loud enough for him to hear. "Please don't make it hurt more than it has to."

He gently took her hand, making her turn towards him, and though she tried not to show it, he could see the fear in her eyes. "I won't ever hurt you."

"Do you promise?" She asked, her childlike side coming out.

"I promise," he told her, leaning down to kiss her. Trying to sooth her fears.

It didn't.


	8. Chapter 8

Belle spent the night before her wedding in her room. She had asked for a large amount of wine, but nothing to eat. She knew she couldn't eat, so she drank, hoping to forget for a few hours.

Her dress was lain on the chair in her room, taunting her. She wasn't upset anymore about who she was marrying, just that she was getting married, at sixteen. Which wasn't uncommon, she just hoped that she would be like Marian-independent, with a father who didn't force her to marry. She should have known that she would only be able to get away with it for so long with a father like hers.

She drank until her mind was foggy, and she had no filter on her mouth, but no one came in to see her, nor did she go out to see anyone. She didn't even like the taste after a while, it was just for the foggy feeling in her head. She started laughing at some point, she couldn't control it, if there were any guards they probably thought she had gone insane, but she didn't care, she just kept laughing until she could barely breathe, falling into a drunken sleep.

She was awoken by two servants who were to get her ready late the next morning, she had a headache, and could tell by where the sun was it was late morning. Her wedding was in a few hours. She was ushered to a hot bath by the two older women that was fragranced with rose petals.

They towel dried her long hair until it was nearly dry, then they started to pin it up quietly, as the other used red dye to paint her lips and a black one to trace around her eyes.

It probably took hours to get her ready, but to her it felt like minutes. Soon she was being ushered into a carriage. Not even her father was going to be there. He had something better to do. So it looks like most of Locksley will be the witnesses of this. She didn't know if it was a comfort or not though. Would the children that adored her cry? Would they understand why she was marrying this hated man? Would they still come to her classes and accept the food and clothes she would give them? She was already the Sheriff's daughter, that fact couldn't be worse marrying Guy, would it? Could it?

It was hard to see with the lace of the veil over her eyes, but she could tell that many of the children were waiting for her, as well as one Guy of Gisborne.

She got out of the carriage, and walked up to him. "What are you doing here?"

"You look beautiful." He told her.

"Thank you," she said, smoothing her dress. "You're not supposed to be here."

He was taken aback. "Who is?"

"You're supposed to be in the church waiting for me." She told him. "Haven't you been to a wedding before?"

"Right," he said.

"Go on, and wait for me there, I will be there in a moment." She told him, before watching him walk away.

She looked to the sky, the sun was out still, and she quietly said. "Mother, give me strength." She often talked like that, like her mother could hear her, but she honestly did think her mother was dead. Who would leave their child with someone like her father?

A four year old child came up to her and wrapped his arms around her waist. It was Timothy from her classes.

"Don't marry that bad man," He said, hiding his face in her stomach as his mother came towards them.

Bella blinked back tears, looking into the sun as she hugged the child back. "Oh, Timothy..."

"Sorry, Lady Belle," she said. "Forgive me."

"There is nothing to forgive." She said, squatting to look into Timothy's eyes. "It's going to be okay." She told him, hugging the small child to her. "I'll have another class on Tuesday." She promised, releasing the child, who was crying. "Don't cry, love." She told him. "Promise me you won't cry." She hugged him again. "Don't cry." She picked up the child, and handed him to his mother.

"You're the one that's been teaching them?" The mother asked.

Belle nodded. "I hope you don't mind."

"I don't mind at all." The mother told her taking her hand. "I'm sorry that you have to do this."

Belle smiled. "Don't be, this is for the better of all."

"Of you or us?" She asked.

Belle just keeps smiling in response. "I have to go."

"Of course, thank you, Lady Belle." The lady bowed, and left her.

"Come to the feast!" She called after her. "There is plenty of food for everyone."

The woman looked at her, half smiling, half grimacing. "Thank you, Lady Belle, for everything."

XXXXX

Hours later Belle stared at the bed as she took off her veil, and unpinned her hair, it fell in waves around her from being pinned up all day. She went to a mirror, and put the pins on the table beneath it. She looked in the mirror, taking deep breaths as she watched her chest puff up as she inhaled and deflate as she exhaled. She wanted her heart to stop beating so quickly. She wanted to not be so nervous.

Guy came in and looked at her a moment before standing behind her and putting her hair over one shoulder before putting his arms around her waist.

"My wife."

She smiled, hearing him whisper it so softly in her ear. "My husband."

He started kissing her neck, she closed her eyes and leaned into him as she felt him loosen the ties on her dress. She stretched her neck to the side to give him more access to it.

"Try to enjoy it." One of her maids had whispered to her. "It's better if you do."

Belle took comfort in the fact that she had been taking whatever herb Djaq had given her so she wouldn't get pregnant. A child would not complicate things. A child would not kill her body and tie her to this man. She would still be her own person.

She felt him push the dress off her, trailing it slowly down her arms. When it was off her she turned to face him, only in a shift and put her hands on his chest, nervously looking into his eyes.

She got on her toes to kiss him, as her hands went down his chest, undoing the clasps on his jacket as they made a trail down to his abdomen. Unable to stop herself from feeling his strong body beneath her fingers, feeling the contours of his chest.

She pushed the jacket off his shoulders with a little help from him, his shirt underneath it following.

Guy got a little more confident with her actions, and pulled her close to him, her hands having no where to go put around his neck as they kissed. He picked her up by her hips, she straddled him, and hooked her ankles together to keep herself up.

He carried her to the bed, his hands on her thighs before going up to her ass as her nails bit into his shoulder as she tried to get even closer to him than she was already.

Belle found herself wanting to sleep with her husband, something not many women around her did. She liked that her skin felt like it was on fire by his touch, and she craved more. She wanted him on top of her. She wanted to feel his mouth on her neck and chest. She liked how his hands felt on her ass. She liked how she felt so small next to him.

He laid her on the bed not as gracefully as he would have liked, but as soon as she wasn't hooked around him her fingers went to work on the ties of his pants. Some part of his mind wondered where she had found out how to untie them, but he quickly forgot when he was released from the bindings.

Belle bit her lip, wondering how he was going to fit inside her as he pushed his pants the rest of the way off, joining their other clothes on the floor, her shift following, before he appeared over her, close but not yet touching. He kissed her, and she felt his hand go down her body to a place no man has touched. He could feel her muscles tighten to try to stop her from snapping her thighs together.

"It helps," he whispers to her, kissing down her cheek to her jaw. "Trust me." He felt her nod and he felt her wetness on his fingers. He hesitantly slid one finger inside her, surprised by how tight she was, his finger could barely fit. He moved his finger in and out of her, feeling her relax and move with him. He kissed his way down her neck and chest, kissing her breasts and making her moan softly.

He got off of her withdrawing his finger from her, making her get on her elbows to look at him in a way to ask him why he stopped.

He guided himself to her entrance. "Are you ready?"

She nodded, rising her hips a little higher so it was easier for him to get inside. He inched in, little by little, watching her face for a sign of distress. It wasn't until he was almost completely inside of her that there was a flash of pain over her face as her muscles tightened.

He bent over her, kissing whatever skin he could reach. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He punctuated those words with a kiss. Apologizing for something he couldn't help.

"It's okay," she breathed when the pain dulled. "I'm okay." She moved with him, getting him deeper inside her.

He groaned. "You're so tight."

"Good or bad?" She whispered, as he moved all the way in her.

"Good-uh, very, very good." He said pulling most of the way out of her and pushing all the way back in.

The pain had dulled to near nonexistence, and she focused on the feel of him, on his kisses, on the pressure of his weight on her, it wasn't uncomfortable at all, and he was being gentle with her, always watching her face to make sure she wasn't in pain, how when she let out a moan he would kiss her harder until her climax came, her nails scraping down his back and with a low moan. He followed soon after.

He stayed on top of her, kissing her, with one hand playing with her hair on the pillows. Her hands were on his neck, keeping him close.

"I love you." He told her after he pulled away.

She pushed his hair back from his face, and kissed him lightly. "I love you too." A part of her didn't know if she was lying or not.

Little did Belle know that down the Hall, Alan had heard everything, and had taken all of his self control not to take her away. The wedding was one thing...but this, this was another.

He had completely lost her now.

XXXXX

Belle awoke the next morning with an ache between her legs, but couldn't find herself regretting it. He did everything she asked him to, and was sweet, she actually felt safe in this man's arms.

She opened her eyes and looked at his face, he looked younger while he was sleeping, and didn't scowl, he was even more handsome. She brushed a lock of his hair from his forehead and his dark blue eyes flashed open to hers.

She bit her lip, looking through her lashes up at him.

He bent his neck to kiss her. She kissed him back. He slowly rolled her over until she was on her back.

She broke away. "Not right now." She whispered.

He didn't only pause, but rolled off her. "What is wrong, Belle?"

"I am just a little sore," she told him, ignoring the slight blush that tinged her cheeks.

"Did I hurt you?" He asked, carefully.

She shook her head. "No, it's just a new feeling, I will be better later." She paused. "You-you were perfect." She looked up at him. "I'm not just saying that."


	9. Chapter 9

Monday morning Guy left to go to the castle, leaving Belle before she awoke.

She honestly did not know what to do, so she got dressed and went to Knighton to see Marian. They didn't talk much at first, neither knowing what to say. They mostly looked at each other, both trying to find a way to say what needed to be said, or bring up the elephant in the room. For both knowing each other so well, but for the moment they didn't know what to expect from the other.

"You got married." Marian finally said, her voice soft, like she was scared they were going to be overheard.

Belle nodded. "Yes, yes I did." She paused. "Alan was there."

Marian raised an eyebrow. "Did he cause any trouble?"

Belle shook her head. "Just looked a little ill the whole day. Is it bad that it was hard to see him like that?"

"You're empathetic, it's not a fault, but a virtue." Marian told her. "What about that night?"

"It was-it was good." She told her. "He was sweet. It wasn't bad like everyone makes it seem."

"You're lucky then," Marian told her. "He wants to please you."

"He loves me." Belle told her. "He said he does, at least."

"Before or after?"

"After."

"Another good thing." Marian said.

Belle nodded, but didn't say anything for a while, while trying to figure out how to ask her question. After a moment of thinking, she decided to be direct. "I don't know how to deal with Alan."

"What do you mean?" Marian asked.

"I'm just so confused by him, I tell him I don't want to see him, but he still hangs around. He's even staying in one of the bedrooms of the house since he has no where else to stay. I didn't know this until yesterday, and both of us don't want Guy to find out—" Her words were coming out a mile a minute.

"Why don't you want him to find out?" Marian asked, interrupting Belle.

"Well, for one if he did find out he would probably kill Alan, and another is that he would probably find out about my connections as well as yours because of it. You would probably be thrown into the dungeon, I will be at the mercy of my raging husband." Belle told her. "He cannot find out."

"Good reasoning." Marian said, clearly expecting a different response. "I didn't think I would be a victim if he found out."

"You're the only person I know with a connection to Robin." Belle shrugged. "It's not that far of a jump."

"No, I daresay it is not." Marian agreed.

"I won't let him find out about it, I promise." Belle told her. "He knows nothing about me or the Nightwatchman."

"Shadow." Marian corrected. "They started calling you that last week."

Belle laughed. "So I am a shadow."

"Well, they just know that a man in all black is around in the dead of night, leaving food on windowsills. I think a child started it in fact."

Belle smiled. "Me, a man." She shook her head.

"If you opened your mouth everyone would know." Marian teased. "You sound too much like a woman."

"As do you. You used to even hit like one."

"Unlike you, who was trained from birth to be a killer." Marian replied.

"We both know my father wanted a boy." Belle said. "He was able to pretend until I reached the age of twelve. Even Guy noticed then."

"And then, just as you became of marrying age he asked your father to court you and for your hand a month later." Marian shook her head. "It seems that Guy of Gisborne had this planned."

"Probably," Belle agreed. "But the purpose I know not. Perhaps if he didn't love me I would just be like that servant girl was to him, or perhaps a carrier for his child."

"What if you do not give him a son?"

"We won't know until I decide I want one. Unless, of course, that the herb does not work." Belle told her. "I personally hope it does, I don't want the pain of childbirth just yet."  
"What if he expects a child within the year?" Marian replied.

"He will keep trying to get me pregnant, and I can't say I am not happy about it, he will not hit me because if I am carrying a child at the time I could lose it, and I am the only one that would not give him a bastard child. He will have to deal with it." Belle said.

Marian searched her friend for a sign of weakness, but finding none she smiled. "I give my best wishes to you, Belle of Gisborne."

XXXXX

"Belle?" Guy called late that night.

"Up here." Belle called back, while she was brushing her hair.

Guy appeared in the doorway.

"You're home late," she said, as she began to braid her hair. "I was just about to get in bed." She tied the end of her hair with a strip of cloth and turned around to look at him. "You usually leave-" but he broke her off with a kiss, pushing her against the wall, making her gasp.

_Bad day?_ She wanted to ask, but her lips were preoccupied.

He pulled her chemise up over her thighs until it was bunched up around her waist and picked her up by her thighs so she was straddling his hips. She put her hands on his shoulders to make sure she didn't fall and to hold some of her weight like that.

He undid the ties on his breeches and she felt his hard erection pushing against her. He guided himself inside her and pushed until he was all the way inside her. He broke his lips away from hers, trailing his down her neck.

"Bad day?" She asked, breathless as she ground her hips against his.

"Unbearable." He whispered, as he pulled out of her a bit before pushing all the way back into her, pressing her firmly against the wall.

She moaned each time her back was pushed against the wall with a _thud_, until he carried her onto the bed. She pushed his jacket and shirt off him then she rolled them over until she was on top with him still inside her, breaking the connection his lips had with her neck as she smiled down at him as she sat on top of him, her hands on his bare chest.

As she moved on him, he pulled her shift off her so she was fully exposed to him, her full breasts bouncing with her movements. Belle liked how he was watching her, it was sensual how his blue eyes watched her, darkened with lust. His hands were on her hips, bringing her down harder and harder on him as he moved his hips up to meet hers.

She kissed him before they came together, swallowing the other's moans, before she laid on his chest as they tried to catch their breath.

"What happened?" Belle asked, still breathing hard.

"Hood stole something." Guy told her. "Knocked out over half the guards doing it too."

"The pact?" Belle asked.

He looked at her, surprised she knew.

"Yes, I know. I can pick up on things easily, especially when neither you or my father is a good liar." She told him, turning her head to kiss his chest. "Alan though, he's pretty good, if you want someone to lie to me, he's the one to do it."

"So you're telling me how to lie to you now?" Guy replied. "What a good wife you are."

"Oh hush. I prefer that you wouldn't, but I know that there are a few things I do not want to know. I am not ignorant." In reality, Alan couldn't lie to her either, but then she would know for sure she was being lied to.

"I know you aren't. You're honest too, from the first time I tried to kiss you."

Belle laughed at the memory. "I called you old, correct?"

"Yes, you did. First time anyone had called me that."

"Not the last, though." Belle replied. "How does it feel to have a wife ten years your junior?"

"Great. By the time you're old I'll be blind and deaf." He told her.

She slapped his chest. "Behave." She rubbed where she slapped, before kissing it. "So when are is your next day off?"

"Sunday." He told her.

"Are you always going to be home this late?" She asked.

"At least tomorrow." He told her.

She nodded, tracing patterns on his chest. "Okay."

"But right now, I am all yours." He told her.

"All mine, huh?" She laughed. "What shall I do with you?"

He rolled her over, getting on her, holding most of his weight off her with his arms.

"Or what shall you do with me?" She went on, turning her head so he couldn't kiss her.

"I have a few ideas." He told her, giving up trying to kiss her lips, and going for her neck instead. "If you're willing."

"Always."

XXXXX

When she was handing out what the children needed after the class the next day, Kate came up to her. A plain looking girl with blonde hair, but was nice enough to Belle...most of the time.

"So, how's sleeping with the devil?" She asked.

Belle threw her a look, as she finished handing out the stuff. "He's not that bad."

"You don't have to pay taxes to him." Kate replied.

"True, and as you know I do not condone it. I'm just saying he's different when he's not working." She told her. "Come on, Kate. You're different around different people too. Don't deny it."

"I am not going to." Kate replied.

"Oh, and here." Belle said, handing her a bag full of food.

"Is your husband wondering why so much of the food is missing?"

"That is my worry, not yours." She told her. "I can take care of myself."

"I think you proved that by living through the night you got married." Kate told her.

"He's not bad all the time!" Belle replied.

"Taxes." Kate replied. "Which are supposed to be tomorrow, so after that I want you to look in everyone's eyes and say, 'he's not always bad' okay?"

Belle turned away from her. "Don't you have something better to do?"

"Scared to get a little honesty on you?" Kate replied.

"Did you not hear me tell you to go away?" Belle asked getting up. "Your presence is unwanted."

Kate smiled. "Have a good day, Lady Belle." She mock bowed before bouncing back to her house on the other side of the village.

Belle shook her head, and went back to her house, and sitting by the fire, she was lucky it wasn't frigidly cold out yet, but the fire was always nice. She pulled a blanket and sat on the floor like she did when she was a small child, staring into the fire as it warmed her face and hands and casting a golden glow on the whole room. The servants here had learned she overall did not need them to do much, so they left her alone, just doing their daily chores while the mistress of the manor stared into the fire with a blank expression.

Belle never liked people who would change their mood as quickly as the sun moves, but she still loved Guy, even though he was a jerk to everyone but her. She knew she loved him, because he did have a place in her heart, but she knew that she would not have some great love story like Marian and Robin's. She didn't have the choice to do that...well she did, but it wasn't meant to be, not like theirs was.

Belle dozed off, dreaming of her musings.

She was in the forest, it was mid afternoon, and she was alone, only the chirping of the birds to keep her company. She was in a white flowing dress, and was walking barefoot through the forest, but there was only soft grass beneath her feet. Maybe she wasn't in the forest at all; perhaps she was in a fantasy land where there was nothing to hurt her.

Guy came out from behind a large oak tree, and walked towards her, stopping in front of her, pushing her hair behind her ear, neither saying a word, his fingers traced her jawline, before he tilted her chin up so he could kiss her.

When he pulled away he was different, shorter with short brown hair and a scruffy face, his eyes a lighter blue, and his hands cradled her face in a loving way, holding her close to him.

"Alan," she whispered

"I'm not being funny." He whispered softly, pressing his forehead against hers. "I love you."

She backed away from him and closed her eyes, and when she opened them she was back in her sitting room, and the fire got a new log on it while she was sleeping.

She stretched her back, getting a few cracks out of it, and stood up, folding up the blanket, and putting it on the chair before finding Alan standing in the doorway.

"Hi," she said.

"You said my name." He said.

"No, I didn't." She said, her eyebrows going together in confusion.

"Yes, you did." He said. "When you were sleeping, you said my name."

"So?" She replied. "I know other Alan's."

"Who?"

"None come to mind right now." She said, looking down at her hands, her fingers were twisting together.

"Not even the one you dreamed about?" He replied.

She threw him a look that begged him not to go on.

He looked at her for a moment, and her at him, until he took three large steps towards her and kissed her, not expecting her to kiss him back but hoping she would.

She did for a minute, before breaking away. "Where's Guy?"

"He's staying at the castle tonight." He whispered to her, a little jealous that she was thinking about another man, but wasn't willing to show it.

"Good," she whispered back, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him.

He couldn't believe it, she was kissing him again, she was dreaming about him, and only asked where her husband was to make sure that they weren't caught. Her husband. His boss. He was kissing his boss's wife. This was not good, but couldn't find himself caring, until she pulled away again, taking a step backward and breaking their embrace.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, seeming on the verge of tears.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I'm married." She told him.

"But you love me." He told her.

She shook her head. "It's not enough." She told him. "It's too little too late, we had our chance, and it passed us by. I'm so sorry."

"But you don't love him." Alan told her.

"Yes, I do." She told him. "I love him. I know he's done awful things...but so have you. I will always love you in some way, Alan A'Dale, but I can't be with you, not anymore."

"Belle-"

"No," she told him. "I can't do this to him. I may have married him for protection, but he's nice to me, he's a better person around me, after my father dies he will be Sheriff, and he will be a better person than my father."

"How do you know that?" Alan asked.

"Because I won't give him a choice to." She told him. "We had our chance, Alan, but it's over now. We're over now. I can't be with you, and I don't plan on telling Guy about any of this. He will stay blissfully unaware, and you will love some other girl, and everything will be fine."

"No, it won't."

"It has to be. This is the fate I have chosen for myself, this is what will happen, I know it, and if you don't see it you are a fool."

"Was I a fool to love you too?"

"Yes," she told him. "I am dangerous person to love." She looked away from him. "Goodnight Alan."

"This isn't over." He told her, following her up the stairs.

"Yes, it is," she told him.

"You keep saying that, but you don't mean it." He replied.

"Yes, I do. I mean it every time I say it, but something gets in my head and changes my mind, before I regain my sanity and I can think again." She said passionately. "I'm not yours, and I never could be. It was a childish dream to have, my fate was already decided."

"You can be," he told her.

"No, I choose him, Alan. I choose him." She whispered, feeling the words sink into her bones as she realized the truth of them. "I do. I choose him. I choose Guy."

Alan looked as if she just stabbed him. "You were mine first."

"I'm not a toy, Alan. I get to choose, and I have chosen. Can't you just forget about me?"

"I'm going to try." He told her, before turning around and going down the stairs, she heard the front door slam shut.

Belle cried herself to sleep that night, though not even she knew the reason why.


	10. Chapter 10

Belle was awoken by yells and screams the next morning, she sat upright in the bed before realizing what was happening today. Taxes. It was tax day. How had she forgotten? She could have put money on the steps the night before. She could have done something besides leaving these people—her people now—on their own.

Belle got dressed quicker than she ever had before, pulling on her boots as she went down the stairs and putting on her black cloak, as she ran into Locksley, and was sadly not shocked by what she found. Men dressed in black armor were on horses, rampaging through the town looking for money.

For a moment, Belle didn't know what to do, until she saw the children, all younger than ten years of age running, almost getting killed by horses.

Belle moved quickly, calling whatever children she could over to the front of her house, making sure they were safe, they all trusted her, until she saw Timothy, the boy who had run up to her before her wedding, not seeing as he ran in front of a horse.

"No!" Belle screamed, running faster than she ever had, grabbing the child and getting him out of there, but she wasn't fast enough, the horse's hoof caught her calf, hitting it hard enough for the hoof to sink into her skin, and leaving a long gash as she pulled her leg out of harms way. She ignored the warm feeling of blood running down her leg, and looked at the child who was on her stomach and chest, cushioning his fall.

"Are you okay?" Trying not to show pain on her face.

The little boy nodded, hugging her as she hugged him back, kissing his forehead.

"Timothy, you need to go over to where the other children are, all right?" She told him, realizing they weren't safe where they were.

He pulled away and nodded.

"Run," she told him. "And stay there until I come and get all of you."

He nodded again, before taking off in the direction of the other children.

Belle looked around for something to help her get on her feet, but there was nothing, she started to drag herself towards a short stone wall that was behind her.

"Belle!" Guy yelled, coming towards her on his horse, before dismounting and reaching for her. "Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right to you?" She snapped, giving him a look of pure anger.

He knelt down to look at her leg, ignoring her temper.

"Don't touch me!" She seethed. "Don't you dare." She pulled her body away from him.

"I'm trying to help you." He hissed. "You're bleeding."

"I do not care." She told him. "It was your men that did this."

"Belle-"

"Don't bother coming home tonight." She told him. "Just go."

He did just that, looking at her with a mix of anger and remorse, before mounting his horse and having his men follow him out of Locksley.

Kate came towards Belle with bandages, and peeled away the leg of the tight pants she had underneath the skirt of her dress.

"Can you feel it?" She asked.

Belle nodded. "It hurts."

"Can you still say he's a good man?" Kate asked.

"He's not." Belle muttered, wondering why a part of her still wanted to defend him. "No good man would do that."

"You've never seen him do it before, have you?" Kate said.

Belle shook her head, before hissing as Kate wrapped the cloth around her wound. "I just need it not to get blood on the saddle, then I'll get someone to stitch it up."

"You're losing a lot of blood." Kate said, wearily. "A lot of it."

"I'll survive." Belle told her, as Kate finished, and helped Belle to her feet, letting her limp on her until she got to her horse, and helped Belle saddle her horse as Belle called for the children to go to their parents.

"Where are you going?" Kate asked.

"To get help." Belle said, as she used her god leg to get on the horse. "I'll be fine. But if you don't see me by nightfall, please tell Alan to tell Guy it's his fault. Alan won't hurt you, I promise." Belle clicked her tongue and the horse started at a walk, each bump causing her leg to hurt more and more.

She saw people cleaning up their shops or houses, but when she passed by Timothy's mother, she mouthed a thank you, before going back to her work.

Belle decided it was worth it.

Belle found her way through the forest, trying to get through to the outlaws camp.

"Djaq!" She yelled, but her voice was weak, and was just as loud as it was when she talked.

She was slouching on her horse, and she could feel the blood running down her leg, turning as cold as the wind which was biting her exposed skin.

"Robin!" She called again. "Someone!"

"Belle?" Little John came out from behind a tree.

"Help me," she said, as she started loosing consciousness. "Get Djaq." She fell towards him, and everything went black and cold.

XXXXX

When Belle woke up, Marian was looking down at her, a cloth in her hand that she was pressing against Belle's forehead. "What happened?" Marian asked, sternly. "

"You need to get food and money to Locksley." Belle whispered. "It was bad, so bad. The guards were beating people who wouldn't pay, and-"

"I know." Marian said. "What happened to you?"

"Water," Belle said, before Much handed her a glass.

"Thank you," she said after drinking some. "Timothy-one of the children was about to get run over by a horse, I got him out of the way, but my leg wasn't fast enough." She tried to sit up but Marian pushed her back down.

"You need to rest. You lost a lot of blood." Marian told her. "Is that all?"

"I've never seen anything like that." She whispered, closing her eyes as it replayed over and over in her head. "There was no need for it. If they pitched in as much as they could and then we pay the rest it would be so much better for everyone...all that money that goes unused..."

"She's in shock." Much groaned.

"Where's Robin?" Belle asked faintly.

"He, Little John, and Will all went to help Locksley clean up." Djaq told her.

"Okay," she sighed. "Okay."

"Belle?"

Everyone's heads shot up to see Alan, Much went for his sword.

"What are you doing here?" Much hissed.

"I was sent to make sure Belle didn't die, is she okay?" Alan said, taking a step toward Belle. "Belle?"

Djaq, Much and Marian closed ranks around the weak Belle.

"She'll survive." Djaq said.

"Can I see her?"

"She's weak, we won't be able to move her for a few days." Marian told him. "Go tell your master that she won't be home for a while."

"Can I see her?" He repeated.

"Why do you want to?"

"I need to make sure she's okay." Alan told them. "I won't stay long."

The three of them looked at each other, before letting him see her, a sickly pale with all the blood gone from her cheeks, and no more pink tinge to her skin. Her eyes were dark, but open as she looked at him. Her blue eyes were still clear, and threatening behind her weak exterior.

"What happened to her?" Alan asked.

"You don't know?" Djaq asked.

"No."

"She was hurt saving a child from one of the guards." Marian told him. "She came here for help, and lost a lot of blood doing it."

"Is she going to live?" Alan asked.

"Yes," Djaq said. "But tell your master she will be gone for a few days, don't tell him where, don't tell him that you know. Just tell him she will refuse to see him."

"Can I come back?"

"No." Much told him. "Not unless we get you."

"Fine."

XXXXX

Belle couldn't believe how much pain could be directed at one part of her body. Djaq kept giving her wine whenever a moan escaped her lips, sleeping or awake. Marian tried to visit as much as she could, but it wasn't too often, or only after dark. Robin would talk to her often.

"You can't do this any more." He told her. "You're Gisborne's wife, this is more dangerous for you than anyone else. You can't run away if things get too bad. You're bound to him."

"I don't want to be." She whispered, her voice almost sounding like a moan of pain.

"There's nothing I can do," he told her. "No matter how much I would like to."

She looked up at him, looking weak and sick as ever. She had taken on a fever that morning and since she did she had not been thinking straight. She had said a few things, only a couple of them comprehendable. "Kill me."

"No," he told her. "I don't do that."

"I'm dead anyway, Robin." She begged. "Kill me, and let me be free."

"I won't. I will try to help you, but you need to trust me." He told her. "I have a plan."

"What is it?" She asked.

"We let Gisborne know we have you, we say that the doctor wasn't helping you so we decided to heal you ourselves. That no girl deserves to be married to a monster like him." He told her. "When he tries to get you back, you give him an ultimatum, if he cares for you like everyone believes then he should do it. If not, then you will stay here with us."

Belle nodded. "What if he lies?"

"We'll get you out." He told her. "You have my word."

"Then you have mine. I will do what you ask." She told him.

"As soon as you're stronger we will act on this plan." He told her.

"Where does Guy think I am?"

"He doesn't know." Robin told her. "As far as any of us can tell, he's been at the castle, even Locksley has completely turned him out after they all found out how you got hurt. Some of them know you're with us."

Belle nodded, and looked away.

"What?" Robin asked.

"I love him, is that so horrible?" She asked. "Not the one that's cruel and heartless, but the one where he's sweet."

"Well, take no offense at this, but you have bad taste in men." Robin told her with a smile. "First Alan then Gisborne, you just can't pick the good ones, can you?"

She laughed, a weak sort of laugh, but still a laugh. "Maybe it is because the good men don't want me."

"Why wouldn't they?" He asked.

She smiled sadly. "I don't know, perhaps you and Marian are the only ones who can stay together both being good, perhaps there can't be two good people in a relationship."

"You don't believe that." He said.

"Yes, I do. You and Marian are one in a million. So rare that I will never find love. I am doomed to be with a man, who is like my father in evilness, and when I give him no child, or a daughter, he will kill me. Just like my father did my mother."

"Do you know that for certain?" He asked.

"Why else would my mother leave me?" She asked. "Even now I would not leave my child with such a man, I would run with her or him. I would go to some other part of Europe. Perhaps Prussia to live with that Count."

"You seem to have it figured out." He told her.

"If Djaq's herbs fail, then I will have to make these choices." She told him. "How could I let my son turn into someone like my husband? How could I let my **daughter** live a life like mine?"

"You are far too young to think about any of this." He told her. "Not yet seventeen."

"Just because Marian has freedom does not mean I'm blessed with it, nor are many other women." She told him. "Marian's lucky in many ways, with a father who loves her, with you, with her freedom. I would give anything to be her, but I would never ask her to be condemned to my fate."

"She wanted to trade places with you, you know. After she found out about the gash in your leg." Robin told her. "You were still out cold, and she said that you were still just a girl, and you didn't **deserve** this."

"Nor does she." **Belle** replied. "Does she know about this plan."

"She doesn't approve of us using you as a pawn."

"I am already one." She told him. "I would rather be used by you than him." She paused. "What of my father? What does he know about this?"

"I know that Gisborne left the castle yesterday with bruises and a cut." He told her.

She sighed. "So my father does still love me after all."

"All father's do. If I had a child I would never let anything hurt them." He told her. "Though I have to say I was surprised to hear that the Sheriff has a heart."

"What do you think he will do if he hears of this plan?" **Belle** asked.

"You know him better than I." Robin told her. "What do you think?"

"I honestly don't know." She told him. "He could do anything."

"Are you willing to take the chance?" He asked.

"It will more likely hurt you than me." She said. "If he struck Guy, then I don't want to imagine what he would do to **get me** back."

Robin nodded. "We'll take the chance." He stood up. "You need to rest, I'll tell you if anything **happens**."

"Are you going to tell them that the plan's on?" Belle asked.

"Yes,"

She nodded. "As soon as I am better."

"As soon as you are better." He promised.


	11. Chapter 11

Belle was healing, and at such a fast rate that after a few days they decided to move forward with the plan, even if she couldn't walk yet, she could always be in front of someone on a horse, or Little John could carry her. She wasn't that heavy, being as small as she was. She had many things to do before the plan could go into effect. There was work to be done.

First thing was first: a letter to her father.

Belle wrote it in her own graceful hand, and if he didn't recognize it, then she pressed her ring into hot wax on the paper. He had to notice it.

"He should recognize the writing. Before we came here, I was ill for a fortnight and couldn't talk, I communicated with people by writing my responses down." Belle had told them. "He was the one I mostly talked to."

They had just nodded at that, none of them knowing what to say, nor did she expect them to. The sheriff wasn't a man to them, he was a monster. She knew that well enough. She just wanted to let them know that their plan could work, that he will recognize it as hers, and they won't have to move her so soon.

Robin took it to the castle, and left it on her father's bed, making sure that her elegant script of "Papa" was able to be seen, before slipping back out, unnoticed.

Belle knew the letter had worked when she heart hoofbeats the next day, searching for the Outlaws Camp. They were well hidden, though. Belle was sure she would have never found them if they had not found her. She felt safe enough, even though she could hear voices calling out, searching for Gisborne's little blonde wife. They never got close enough to be worried. A part of her enjoyed it. Enjoyed them being powerless over her while she held the cards. They could not touch her unless she wanted to be touched. They could not find her unless she wanted to be found. For the first time in her life, no man ruled over her. She was her own master.

She would write daily, telling her father that she was fine, and that she was healing. She said that she was treated better here than at any doctor. "I won't tell you who because you will hang him." She had written, answering the question that was probably going through his mind when he read it.

She was surprised when Robin showed up with two letters the next day. One in her father's hand, the other in her husband's. She recognized the sharp edges of the lines of Guy's, and the scratch that was her father's.

"They seem to figure out that the only contact with you will be by letters." He told her, handing her them. They felt rather thick in her hands, they had a lot to say to her. "I found them where I usually put your letters."

She resisted opening them a moment. She was frightened to find out what they were thinking, yet desperate to know. She was only able to stop herself from opening them for a moment before ripping them open hungrily. She was so isolated in the outlaw's camp, she needed to know what was going on in the world outside. She needed to find out what was going on in their heads.

Her father was mostly worried, and told her that they will use her to get to him. He ordered her to come to the castle, but didn't tell her she had to go to Locksley. He said that if she wanted he would kill Gisborne. He said she could come home. Did he not get that it was killing and cruelty that got her here in the first place? She was finished with death, and she would not be the cause of more, no matter who the victim was.

Guy's was...interesting to say the least. He did not say he was sorry, nor did he say anything about how she got hurt. He said he was going to find her and bring her home. He said he loved her, and was going to make things right. She was sure he didn't know how to make things right, even if he tried. He didn't know what he did wrong. He did not even apologize. He did not even understand. She was sure he did not understand. How could he?

She wrote her reply, for both of them in one letter. She told them no killing to get her back, and if they did neither would ever see her again. She told them that they need to stop pretending, and let their true colors show. She listed the things her father had done that he didn't know she had seen, the same with Guy. She told them that neither of them are good men, and she knew it. She dared them to deny it, and dared them to change. She knew they wouldn't.

A week passed, and they didn't reply, but things were uncomfortable in the castle, Marian told her that. When Robin brought a dark haired girl, who was only a few years older than Belle to the camp, since she was running from her abusive husband, she found someone to talk to, not necessarily about herself, or at least not for the first week.

"He did terrible things." The woman told her. "So what are you doing here? You look like a noblewoman yourself."

"It's a long story." Belle told her.

"How about you tell me how you got injured." She told her, sitting on the side of the bed.

"I saved a child from getting trampled by a horse, but the horse's hoof caught my leg and made a gash in it." Belle told her. "The child is fine."

"Do you have any of your own?" Isabella, the other girl asked.

Belle shook her head. "And don't plan on it either, what about you?"

"I was able to get my nurses to get me herbs to keep me from getting pregnant."

"Same, but Djaq got them for me." She looked up at the woman who was sharpening she sword on the other side of the camp.

"Who are you married to?" Isabella asked.

"Guy of Gisborne." She told her. "He's the Deputy and arms person. With my father being the sheriff, it was pretty much decided."

"Guy of Gisborne?" Isabella let out a breath. "What are you doing here then?"

"I have friends that care for me." Belle told her. "I wouldn't trust anyone else with my life."

"Did your husband cause this?" She asked, gesturing to Belle's leg.

Belle bit her lip. "It was a chain reaction, which I think if you trace it all the way back goes to my father, but he was a part of the chain, not directly."

"Really?"

Belle nodded, looking away from the woman.

The woman's face softened. "You love him still?"

Belle looked at her hands. "You can't choose who you love, but my God, I wish I could."

The other girl frowned. "Love is weakness."

"Yes, but it is also powerful." She told her. "Right now I have two men, one my husband, one my father willing to kill each other if it would bring me home. I have a chance at changing them because they love me, and I love them. I fight for the poor because I hate suffering. There's a thin line between love and hate, and they are both the most powerful emotions."

"You don't sound sixteen." Isabella told her.

"I don't act it either, apparently." Belle said.

"So are you using these men to get what you want? What do you want?"

"Less cruelty," Belle told her. "Less killing. Less...just less everything."

Belle was walking a week later, with the help of Much as they walked around the camp to build back up her muscles.

"We should be able to get you back in shape, soon." He told her.

Belle smiled. "I hope so, I need to be kicking my husband's ass again as the Shadow."

"Do you enjoy showing your dominance?" He replied, as he let her rest on a rock.

"Very much, I have so little power as a woman, if you take away my beauty I have none." Belle replied. "Same with Marian, we are both victims of our sex."

"Djaq isn't."

"I disagree, you men get upset when she does something physically better, do you not?" Belle asked.

He didn't reply, which gave Belle all the response she needed.

"Stop seeing her as a girl, and see her as Djaq and see how she replies." Belle told him. "She will be surprised and happy by it. Tell Will."

He jumped, startled. "What?"

"I see the way he looks at her." Belle told him. "It's not hard to figure out."

"I'll pass it along." He told her, looking her over. "I see that you are getting along well with Isabella."

"She's alright," Belle nodded. "I prefer Marian to be around, but she isn't bad company."

"I don't like her, something's off."

"She's been beaten by her husband for years," Belle defended. "And forced to-to do things, to-to have things done to her." Belle shuddered. "I feel for her, she just wants freedom, and if her husband finds her she will never get it."

"What of Gisborne? What happens when you go back to him?" He asked.

Belle bit her lip. "The first few weeks will be hard, he will be stepping on eggshells so he doesn't upset me, I will be untouchable."

"You don't sound happy about that."

"I don't want to not be hurt just because my father will kill him, I would like to not be hurt because they don't want to hurt me." Belle told him, before laughing sadly. "Is that too much to ask? Am I just being a silly little girl with silly little dreams?"

He shook his head. "No, it's not. You're not."

"Belle!" Djaq cried, running towards them. "Belle, how long have you been with us?"

"A month." She told them.

Djaq whispered something in her ear, and Belle blanched, her mouth opening slightly, as her hand went to her stomach.

"It can't be." Tears filled her eyes. "No."

"Your dresses are getting tighter." Djaq told her. "If you want I can check you, but we need to get back to the camp."

Belle covered her face with her hands, because she knew Djaq was right. She was pregnant.

Belle started pulling at her dress strings, even though it was cold out, she tore at her dress.

"What are you doing?" Much said, turning around, giving her, her modesty.

Belle pulled her dress out of the way, and she looked at her stomach, it was thicker. Her hands touched her stomach, it was like she could feel the child inside her. The herbs didn't work.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no." She whispered, trying not to breathe too hard, as her breaths became shorter.

"It's a miracle that you still have it." Djaq told her. "Over this last month, the blood loss, the stress. It's a miracle child."

"It's him." Belle said. "He's inside me." Though her words angry, her fingers were gentle against her stomach. "What do I do?"

"We take you back to camp, and we tell Robin." Djaq told her, lacing back up her dress quickly and putting her arm around her waist so she could walk quicker, Much following them.

But when they got back a child was there, Guy had taken his friends because they saw something they shouldn't have. Belle was furious. Marian had come with them, and when they left to save the child, Belle cut a corset so that it would make her seem like she had more of a bump of a child than she actually had. Marian helped Belle get on her horse behind her, as they slowly rode out towards Locksley, by the time they got there, Guy was threatening a child.

Belle got herself off the horse, landing on her good leg, before walking as normally as she could to the square.

"I hope that's not how you treat our child." Belle punctuated her words with a caress of her abdomen.

Both her husband and her father looked at her as if for the first time in years.

"Children aren't bargaining tools." She scolded them, knowing she was the only one that could, as she walked forward, not showing any emotion on her face, but had her head held high, Robin was shaking his head from behind a crate.

"If you view them as such, than I daresay that I will be taking up my father's offer." She went on, until she reached the child that he had by the hair, and bent before him. "What's your name, love?"

"Daniel." He told her.

She stood up, and faced her husband with a fierce look that the bravest of men would cower to. "Let Daniel go home."

"No, Hood has-"

"I don't care." Belle told him, jutting out her jaw. "I just hope that you do not treat ours this way for your sake." She lowered her voice. "I very much admire knives." She put her hand on the boy's shoulder. "Release him to me."

Of all the things she would have thought that would happen, she did not expect what happened next.

Guy raised his other hand, and struck her across the face, it would not have sent her to the ground if her right leg was not still injured, she picked her upper body up with her hands, but kept her face to the ground, her cheek was stinging, and she tasted blood on the inside of it. Her brows were furrowed in pain from her cheek as well as her leg.

"You have until tomorrow, Hood!" Her husband yelled before hands were on her arms, helping her help herself up. Alan.

"Come on," he whispered to her. "Your father wants you back at the castle."

"I should have let myself die when I had the chance." She hissed, as he picked her up.

"No, because your father is having a go at Giz now." He whispered, carrying her towards a carriage. "You will not be returning to Locksley any time soon."

"But-the child-" She stammered. "The boy."

"Will be fine." He told her. "I'm taking you to the castle, then sending for a doctor."

"I'm pregnant." She told him. "I just hope that he's going to beat me until I lose the child."

"I'm not being funny about this," he told her seriously. "Giz is never going to hit you again."

She looked at him. "Just watch. Men don't change. They never do."

He helped her into the carriage, and got in behind her. "I will watch over you."

"Like my guardian angel?" Belle asked, smiling without humor. "I have those, and I just walked away from them to save a child, and now I lost my chance completely. I cannot live in the forest because I am pregnant, my only hope is that my father kills my husband, which we both know Guy is worth more than his daughter. Though since this child may be a son, I might be more valuable than him for the next months." Belle turned her head, and pushed the fabric of the curtain to the side to look out of it, Robin was there, and she shook her head, and mouthed one word, "No."

"Are they out there?" He asked.

She nodded looking at Alan. "They will come to get me, but a baby doesn't belong out there, and I can't give up the child to its father nor mine, so I am stuck." She looked back out the window. "You do not have to reply, I already know what you are going to say anyway, no need to speak."


End file.
